Driving on rural roads in China's gobi desert - Aiken Spring to G315 Highway, Qinghai Province

Driving on rural roads in China's gobi desert in Mangya city, Qinghai Province, from tourist attraction Aiken Spring scenic spot back to highway 315.

Aiken Spring is located in Mohelbu Village, Huatugou Town, Mangya City, Haixi Mongolian Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, and is known as the "Eye of the Earth" and "Devil's Eye".

With a diameter of more than 10 meters, the spring is like boiling water, constantly tumbling up, and the sulfur minerals around the spring are precipitated for a long time, to made it so colorful.

Looking down from the air, the spring, the gushing spring water, and the crimson ring-shaped sediment on the surrounding land form a peculiar pupil shape, like an eye embedded in the earth.

Aiken Spring is located on the vast land at the foot of the snow-capped mountains, with a wide view. Looking down from the air, the surrounding springs have formed a variety of beautiful pictures due to the long-term sulfur precipitation, and the uncanny craftsmanship of nature is breathtaking.


Mangya, China's loneliest city, surrounded by no man's land with a radius of 400 km. It belongs to the Haixi Mongol Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Qinghai Province, and located in the northwestern border of Qinghai Province, on the western edge of the Qaidam Basin.

In the Han Dynasty, the area around the Mangya belonged to the Ruoqiang state, and on December 27, 2018, the city of the Mangya in Haixi Mongolian Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province was officially inaugurated.

At the end of 2021, the highway mileage of Mogya City was 1200.829 kilometers. There are mainly cultural tourism resources such as alien ruins, Zhangqian Silk Road, Shuiyazidun, Oil base ruins, and natural scenic spots such as Emerald Lake, Thousand Buddha Cliff, Gasi Lake, Danxia Landform Hero Ridge, Aral Wetland and the largest Yadan landform group in China.

China 315 Highway (or “Highway G315", "Route G315 ) is a national highway in China, starting from Xining, Qinghai and ending at Tuergat in Kyzylsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang, which is the 14th of 60 east-west horizontal highways of ordinary national highways in the "National Highway Network Planning (2013-2030)", the route is abbreviated: Xitu Line, the whole distance is 3063 kilometers.

China National Highway 315 is the most inhospitable highway in China. The road is full of barren mountains, Gobi, and desert hills.

It is also said that National Highway 315 is the loneliest highway in China. Along the way, through large areas of no-man's land, signs of life seem to be hiding.

This magical landscape avenue is comparable to Route 66 in the United States, so it is also called "China's version of Route 66" by travelers, rough and almost brutal, ruthless but beautiful.

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