CHINA’s SAHARA That’s Full Of Lakes? 🏝️ S3, EP6
shifu, is there anyone living here? There is only one household An old woman in her seventies Just her alone? Yes, and her sheep She has been living here all her life All her life she doesn’t want to be disturbed She just want to be alone The highest sand dune there The furthest The furthest That’s the world’s highest sand dune in the previous episode we lost our case while crossing the tengger desert oh we kinda broke it it says the maximum is only 5 kilo the next day we went to the motorbike shop to fix it this is problematic that have you gone over the weight limit? yes And road through crappy road? this we’re trying to find a similar part for the motorbike For this It’s the right size More or less There is a steel one a steel frame steel yes You see look This is universal Check this model eventually we didn’ t find a part for that and the final solution is that i buy something on taobao so that it can be shipped to our next destination and then we can find a motorbike store to fix it we left just like that the next 3 days will be some extreme desert ride firstly crossing the Tengger desert part of the greater Gobi then turning south to Alxa right banner and on the third day visit Badain Jaran a desert with the world’s highest sand dunes and some mysterious permanent lakes we took a village level road what surprised me was how green the desert looked far greener than i expected we even saw camels on both sides of the road after more than 100 kilometers we reached a small village A-ri-hu-du-ga-chai-dian I’ll get 4 of this. 2 yuan Which country are you from? Germany what？Germany Germany What are you doing here? What are you doing here? We’re heading towards the west I saw a lot of camels near the road Do they belong to someone? Or are they wild they belong to someone So they have owners yes But don’t they afraid that they might get lost? Not really Not at all, we can find them They know the way back If my sheep haven’t returned If you’re lucky enough to see our sheep And camels There is on only type of sheep And they always go back and forth We never watch over them Thye left in the morning And open the door they left and came back on time for water We don’t need to take care of it So in the morning they go out to eat And come back at night by themselves yes it was quite interesting so the lady told us there is a fly that most of people have moved to the city bye bye bye bye bye the Gobi desert spans a vast arid region of east and central Asia covering southern Mongolia and parts of the inner Mongolia population here is extremely sparse sometimes it’s kilometers before you spot a lonely house in the distance We’re now in the middle of gobi desert Yan is a little bit sleepy and here it’s more steppe like and over there on the horizon you can see the sand dunes are coming back it is so crazy there’s literally no one here anymore almost nothing except sand some plants wild animals and sand dunes on the horizon we were skirting the edge of the Tengger desert this stretch of desert didn’t feel as dramatic as we had imagined thanks to the sand control projects the desert is somewhat green the scenery was indeed monotonous neither romantic nor harsh and all we could do was keep riding slowly through it by evening we got onto national highway 307 and eventually settled down for the night in a small town So here? Ok, I see. Thank you Just a motor-tricycle Yes today we stayed in a guesthouse here and it costs 188 yuan per night we have a room for two and quite amazing view in the backyard let’s check out the restaurant in town manager, I’d like a sour hand pulled noodle our neighboring table is talking in Mongolian and also the other table is also Mongolians the shop owner is also Mongolian and when they speak Mongolian I really can’t get a word thanks we’re not very hungry so we got something very small i got a soup and a small dish side dish and this is suanjiumian so noodles cooked with yogurt what’s in it? Long time ago en Long time ago there wasn’t so much to eat en They cook with dried lamb and yoghurt No additives Simply dairy and noodle Meat, it’s just yoghurt with noodle Manager, this place is surrounded by desert Why is there water? Oh, that’s is because There is underground water There is spring here Water comes from the underground We collect it in a pool Or in a reservior We save it for irrigation So there is a reservior yes There are springs Spring from the desert oh How about the ranch Then there is no way to irrigate It’s all depends on the rainfall The grass grows when there is rain You see, it’s kinda green along the way Without rain the land Would be brown So it only turns green in summer Not in winter Yes, only in summer oh It’s all brown But in spring the grass is withered And turns white we just get everything packed and we’re almost ready for today’s ride and since we are in inner Mongolia we really can’t skip the Mongol empire and the ancient silk road and interestingly the overland Silk road actually flourished during the early yuan dynasty because the Mongol Empire has conquered or unified most of the Eurasia so actually almost no people had ever traveled the entire lands of the Silk road most merchants only travel within their own stretch but there is one guy Marco Polo who actually traveled the entirety of the Silk road entering Hexi Corridor with his uncle and father and then entered inner Mongolia back then which was yuan dynasty led by Kublai Khan who he also met and who he even worked for in the end the next day we continued heading south traffic was rare we had truly reached the southern edge of the gobi ahead of us lay Badain Jaran one of China’s most mysterious deserts Badain Jaran means mysterious lakes and if you zoom in on Google map you’ll see many lakes within the sand dunes and if you continue to zoom in by almost every lake there is a family living there we want to see those lakes so in alxa right banner we switched to our off road pickup with a local driver we changed from our motorbike to this spacious pickup car and we are heading towards the desert we have a very experienced driver the master Wang who’s taking us to the desert Wang shifu Have people always lived in the desert? 一直都有 There are herders The herders used to ride camels They rode horses, donkeys, like that the first ones ever to drive into this desert Were my brother and I In 2000, in the spring we drove into the desert Before that, people went with camels camels With camels From Miaohaizi to here It took half a month for a round trip 7 days out, 7 days back Plus the shopping time here For a day For how many generations have they been living there? Do you know that? I’ve no idea My dad passed away, if he were still alive He should have been over 100 years old En My dad Came when he was only 6 And worked for a Mongolian In Badain Jaran desert the edge of the desert Wang shifu deflated the tires and mounted a flag on a car then we set off once inside the road quickly turned bumpy i didn’t think much of it at first having been to taklamakan but soon i realized this was different the dunes had extreme height differences the driver had to push the gas to climb up then plunge down a 60 degree slope on the other side it felt more like surfing on sand than driving first thing when we enter the desert is to check our safety belt we have to be fully buckled up because it’s going to be very very bumpy and i can already feel it i feel as if i’m riding a roller coaster going up and down our driver basically turned off the aircon to have enough horsepower to climb the sand dune Flo is feeling a bit nauseous right now we actually climbed several really big sand dunes and it’s really steep since i’m sitting in the front i feel a little bit less of this but he simply needs some minutes so i’m going to exchange with the Flo i’ll be sitting in the back and see how it works for me baobao take care on the camera it looks more mild but actually it is way steeper than it really is we are driving along the curve of the sand dune sometime it goes like this maybe 45 degrees although it’s a sandy desert there is plenty of underground water in Badain Jaran the underground water fed all those lakes they stay like this almost all year round even in winter they don’t really dry out and normally the bigger the sand dune is the bigger the lake is they are of different sanity and this one is one of the saltiest it has a very beautiful pink rosy color A head of us That biggest sand dune The furthest The furthest That’s the world’s highest sand dune that’s the world’s highest stationary sand dune was a height of over 500 meters that one In this temple There are long logs ah long log Nobody knows how they were transported hahaha Story came that, there were lamas En They carried the logs to here hahaha are there still lamas? Living in the desert In that temple There is only one lama but He rarely stays there This lama Found a wife in the left banner hahaha The wife is a herder So he went herding Hahaha, I see we’re now right in the middle of the Baidan Jaran desert right next to this beautiful Tibetan Buddhist Temple and this white stupa and a beautiful lake the driver told us that this Temple was built in a 17th century which means that it’s almost 300 years old the only monk that used to stay in this Temple is now having a happy reunion with his wife back left banner leaving this temple here standing alone in a Oasis wait let’s see that this Temple reminds me a very interesting story from Marco Polo’s travel so in his book he wrote that the Kublai Khan actually sent his father back to Rome to ask for 100 missionaries because the Mongol rulers are very religiously tolerant they want to learn from different religions but Marco Polo’s father went back and eventually only a few missionary agreed to embark on this journey across Eurasia and the few of them returned halfway so eventually they never made their way to Mongol Empire and sometimes i couldn’t wonder what would happen if they had come so maybe this beautiful temple could be a Christian church and history could have a completely different turn before coming here i imagined that life in the middle of the desert is extremely limited and harsh but when i’m here it’s actually not the case they have solar panels to generate electricity there is fresh water on ground there is aircon and there is even Wi Fi the lake near the biggest sand dune is relative bigger so there are 3 families living here the one in the middle is adapting their house into a guest house and this house it’s empty they probably have already moved out shifu，are there people living here here Just there No one is here But one household there An old lady in her 70s Just her alone Yes, she has always lived here always she has some sheep And she has spent her life here All her life She doesn’t want to be disturbed She just want to be alone wow the sand dune is just so majestic so beautiful so silent i love it oh man i want to give up already look how tiny people are on the peak hello hello where are you from I come from Germany Are you alone Or is your friend down there My wife is down there i see Come one my body sore Thanks, haha wow this is it the top of Bilutu peak the highest dune in the world and the highest Dune in Baidan Jaran here in China but there are actually multiple dunes that are over 400 meters or higher and this one here is over 500 meters and it constantly changes the altitude because of the sand and the wind that blows but an interesting fact is that those dunes that are more than 300 meters are mostly stationary dunes that means they don’t move and the reason for that is that the sand on top is so heavy that the sand underneath that was actually squeezed together and has over the years formed some kind of sandstone and it’s believed that the earliest sandstone if you would dig a hole in here that it lasts over 20’000 years in the past which is just crazy if you imagine that now comes the best part of the Dune that’s going down actually because you can go down so super fast look at this it’s so much fun i love that when you go up the dune you just need to run down because the sand will stop you our dinner is pepper with pork and some green vegetables it’s quite a luxury to be able to have a warm meal like this in the middle of the desert thanks so actually our driver is enjoying dinner with other drivers they are eating lamb and they give me this hahaha what’s this he said sheep the stinky foot the finger nail finger of the lamb try
Join us as we cross the Gobi Desert from Alxa Left Banner to Alxa Right Banner, passing through the Tengger Desert — one of the most remote regions in Inner Mongolia, China. Along the way, we meet Bactrian camels, connect with local residents living in isolated desert villages, and experience life on the edge of civilization.
Our adventure leads us to the Badain Jaran Desert, home to the tallest sand dunes in the world and over 100 permanent freshwater lakes hidden between them — a natural wonder unlike anywhere else on Earth. We rent a 4×4 pickup truck and drive across the shifting dunes to visit the people who live in this surreal landscape.
Deep in the desert, we discover the Badain Jaran Temple, a remote Tibetan Buddhist temple believed to have been built in the 18th century during the Qing Dynasty. Its presence reveals the deep roots of Buddhism in Inner Mongolia, even in one of the harshest environments on the planet.
Join us on a journey to one of China’s most mysterious places 🎬
0:00 Intro
2:21 A village in the middle of nowhere
4:20 Crossing the Gobi Desert
10:05 Badain Jaran – The Desert of Mysterious Lakes
16:41 Tibetan Temple in the middle of the Desert
20:00 World’s Talles Sand Dune
#china #innermongolia #chinatravel #desertlife #chinavlogger
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44 Comments
💚ya Yan✨
14:00 Toyota should pay for this great advertisment 😊
I recently stumbled on your channel or it found me because I am going to China soon and somehow I think Siri overheard me . I love your channel , the commentary and videography is so good and informative . I have been to China many times but never the remote parts you show . if your on your own your amazing . great work and terrific insight into real China .
Bro china get other people land this is a bad sorry for mongoliya amd tibet
要带一块滑板去爬沙，下来的时候就方便很多了。。。。哈哈
Wow, most of us will probably never come to these places. It is so beautiful. Thank you for bringing us along
Chinas landscapes are so diverse. Thank you for showing us another place to add to our China bucket list! Love from Shanghai ❤
Hola' Yan y Flo de Nuevo estoy aquí acompañándolos por la ruta de la seda, El paisaje en la carretera del desierto es precioso no me imaginé 🤔 que hubiera tanto verde alrededor en un sitio tan solitario y dónde es escasa la naturaleza , Lo que siempre me sorprende de china es la variedad de comida que tienen en su gastronomía cada región de tu bello país es única mis mejores deseos 🙏 para ustedes chicos' 😘❤️🇨🇳
Rest your leg in the sidecar! Great solution!
So cool, thank you 💚🙏
From Hawai'i mahalo nui loa for the wonderful video. You are great explorers 🤩
Yan, Flo – this is a fantastic video; thank you so much. I like seeing other young people – tourists – taking effort and heat, and what not, to climb those dunes. (Like the Flo's "send-dune-shoes"; a special edition, right?)
This is what I tell my friends in Australia, get the Chinese to turn the Australian desert into fertile land.
❤👍👍👍👌
free mongolia
I realised, seasoned driver are very prone to car sickness
Nice episode
This Silk Road trip is like a special military operation in need of a bigger vehicle upsell.
@12:10 you get to experience American technology…a very old American Ram truck.
BUN BUN so cute. i love it
The name of your channel is offensive to Chinese males Did you even know that it was coined by the British immigrants into the Americas for describing all Chinese males So if you have any sense, you will rename that channel name of yours or are you trying to cater to racist white males?
<3
Beautiful
Durvud and Khalkar friends in Outer Mongolia use
Gobifor -steppes-/-prairy-/-grasslands-, they never say -desert gobi-, as my teachers did. Their category for a sand desert is a different one: -Els-. What is correct? I tend to consider the herding pros there more qualified as european school teachers.Driving through the Dunes looked amazing and scary. You are truly brave. Hope Flo feels better.
New subscriber here I love it
Another fantastic video . Tks
i would love to hear some regional folk music in your scenic vista sections. no one knows what the land sounds like better than the people who live there, and it would be especially interesting to hear the evolution of music as you cross!
Very enjoyable video to watch. China has a rich history culture.
This is so amazing. The beauty of the scene. The beauty the desert. The beauty of life. The beauty of your remarkable spirit, sense of adventure and intrepid soul…I am touched.
Thank you for great journey ❤❤😊
Amazing travel on sand dunes!
Di China makanan pokok nya mie ya Nasi jarang ku lihat tiap vloger dari China.
Lovely to see such a magnificent views along the Silk Road. Episodes on Inner Mongolia is impressive 😍 I’m from outer Mongolia 🇲🇳
Nice
感谢你让我这中国人了解到，中国还有这样神奇的地方，你总是带给我们惊喜，而且还是以这样的出行方式。
❤❤❤❤❤👍👍👍👍👍
In addition to Marco Polo, Rabban bar Sauma – a 13th century Uyghur Christian monk from the vicinity of Beijing – and his student, Marcos (who would later become the Patriarch of the Church of the East) – also travelled across Eurasia, even reaching France. You can learn more about their extraordinary journey here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabban_Bar_Sauma
this episode had beautiful visuals
国家的大好河山 好感动
🎉
Amazing China beautiful desert . I want to go live there nice peaceful fresh air good food with nice peoples of Chinese . That's all needs for my life
que lugar incrível
e Flo realmente adora aventuras 'radicais'…
Vine aquí por un youtuber pelirrojo yanqui