從烏魯木齊出發，要穿過天山到草原地帶。從書上讀到天山大半輩子，現在終於真的看到，經過。真是壯觀，值得“天山”之名。毛主席當年指示要開路穿過天山。因此這段路在沒有現代化大型機械的年代，以人工辛苦鑿開的。不僅是工程艱難，冬日苦寒，糧食短缺，很多人喪生此處。路邊有一紀念碑記錄開路英雄們的艱辛，喪生英雄們的墓園就在旁邊。現在一路上仍然常有大小崩塌，需要長年維護。
過了天山，到了某一岔路，往左是去巴音布魯克草原，往右去那拉提草原。兩處都沒法自行開車遊，必須買票乘園內巴士。這種作法現在很流行，在九寨溝和此行以後的喀那斯湖都是如此。這樣的話，想要快進快出就完全不可能。我們又在旺季之前，人不多，園內巴士也沒有時間表，只好等到有多些人了才開車。
那拉提草原看來並不是想像中的一大片平緩的草地，而是平緩的山丘和山腳連成一氣的綠地。主要是哈薩克人的放牧區。因為季節還早，牛羊並不多。換了另一班車之後，才知道將要去的是“夏牧場”，翻過一些山頭，來到一大片高地，又大又綠。原來六月以後，所有動物都要趕上夏牧場，在此度過整個夏天。這樣做才能讓山下的牧草得到整個夏天的生長，秋收時的牧草可以長到很高，收藏起來才能當整個秋後到次年春天的草料。這裡的冬天酷寒，動物都靠圈養才不被凍死。夏牧場那天已開滿了黃花，配上綠草和高山，藍天，真是美極了。盛夏時四十萬頭牛羊的盛況，這才是我想像中的大草原！
當晚住在伊寧市。值得一提的是，可能是因為位於邊境的關係， 伊寧市很多旅館都不“涉外”，定旅館前需要先問清楚。
到達賽里木湖之前，經過了快修好但是已通車的果子溝大橋。這高山大橋十分壯觀，穿過一道長隧道，一出隧道就是湖了。但是天色不很好，野花還不夠多，我們環湖路大半圈就繼續上路。”天山之珠“就這麼很快地結果了。
We started our loop on May 12th from Urumqi; three of us with our driver/guide on a Chinese made diesel 4x4.
"It's a bit too early for the season", everyone I talked to on the road around Southern Xinjiang said so. But that's the period available to us, we just have to take what we have. Before gathering at Urumqi, I heard people just came back from Kanas, said the lake was still icy, and there were nothing on the tree, no color. But a lady from Yili area said the grassland has already turned green. After confirming with our guide it was doable, we changed our itinerary from clockwise to counter-clockwise: visiting Yili and the grassland first, hoping the few days delay will buy us some time for the trees in Kanas and Hemu area to turn green.
Tianshan Mountain Range 穿越天山山脈
To get to Yili, we actually had to get through Tianshan Range, a mountain range we studied for so long in our high school geography course. It was nothing short of spectacular. This road was built years ago according to Chairman Mao's order to open up a passage in the mountain range. Thousands of workers braved harsh terrain and weather, with primitive tool to build this road for years. Those who lost their lives in the construction were buried in a cemetery, now with a memorial to appreciate their sacrifice.
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| Never missed a spot for slogan, even at over 3000m... 即使在三千米高也要喊口號：武警交通部隊與新疆各族人民心連心 |
Nalat Grassland 那拉提草原
After passing the mountains, we had a choice of going to either Nalat or Bayinburuke Grassland, we picked the easier access of Nalat. The village of Nalat (Nalati in Chinese) has one main street, with limited hotel choice.
Access to the National Park of Nalat is restricted to the shuttle bus ride, just like many other National Park in China, because of its vast space. It was still early in the season, with limited visitors around, we had to wait for a good number of passengers to get the bus started. The area is the pristine pasture for the Kazak people, whose livelihood is all about sheep, cows and horses.
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| All the small path created by sheep and cows 羊腸小徑。顧名思義，都是羊走出來的 |
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| Small area to keep animal 圈養 |
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| Some kind of apple tree 某種蘋果樹 |
Summer Pasture 夏牧場
Because the animal is so important to the Kazak people, it is essential to have enough food in the winter. While the lower part of the pasture just started to grow, it would be left alone to grow to tall grass over the summer. Harvest in the autumn will be the feed for the long and harsh winter. All the animals from surrounding area, over 400,000 of them, will be moved to the high altitude Summer Pasture (just on the other side of the mountains) and stay there for the whole summer. The shuttle bus took us over and we got to see the vast and flat grassland just under the snow capped mountains. I wish I could see the short but guarantee to be magnificent migration.
Sailimu Lake 賽里木湖
Through an almost complete new highland bridge and tunnel, we arrived at this crown jewel of Tianshan Range. I was a bit disappointed because of my high expectation of this "jewel". It was a bit gray and wild flowers was two weeks too early. Imagination is needed to appreciate this lake.
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