Ninety years ago, the Red Army soldiers crossed the snow-capped mountains and grasslands, marched towards the rising sun, and blazed a road to New China. Ninety years later, in the vast Gobi Desert of the Qaidam Basin, another group of "New Long Marchers" set off to open up a new journey to the sea of stars for China's astronomical undertakings.
Located in Lenghu Town, Seshteng Mountain is 4,200 meters above sea level. It was once called the "black mountain without grass" by the locals. More than 100 kilometers southwest along the Saishiteng Mountains is the Oboliang Yadan landform group in the Qaidam Basin. People often describe the natural environment here as "there are no birds in the sky, no grass grows on the ground, and the wind blows away stones." But this silent ancient wasteland has never been abandoned. It has been continuously awakened and rejuvenated by generations of "new Long Marchers".
In the 1950s, oil workers from all over the world carried their luggage and plunged into the Gobi. With their iron will, they fought against the sand and cold and drilled industrial oil flows deep in the Qaidam Basin. Cold Lake has since been officially marked on the map of China. At its peak, it produced nearly 300,000 tons of crude oil annually. The silent wasteland became noisy with the arrival of oil workers.
The excitement in Lenghu Town lasted for more than thirty years. Until the late 1980s, with the transfer of the local oil industry, the once awakened wilderness fell silent again, and the town retreated into the wind and sand again. Many people thought the Cold Lake story ended there. But no one thought that in 2018, another bigger dream was quietly taking root.
In 2018, Haixi Prefecture and the Chinese Academy of Sciences launched the survey of the Lenghu observatory site, and the base construction started in 2020. The builders overcame the difficulties of the Gobi desert with water, electricity, and roads, and built the largest optical astronomy observation base in Asia here, filling the gap in the world-class optical astronomy observatory site in the observation longitude zone of the Eastern Hemisphere.
Wang Chengsen, an AIMS telescope observer at the National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that Seshteng Mountain is a very rare astronomical observatory site. The water vapor content in the atmosphere is extremely low and the atmospheric transparency is very good. It is far away from the city and has very little light pollution. After long-term monitoring, it has excellent conditions for building a world-class astronomical observatory site.
At present, Lenghu Astronomical Observation Base has gathered 13 national-level scientific research units, 15 major scientific research projects have been implemented, and 47 astronomical telescopes and other large scientific equipment have been put into use. The top astronomical resources have become the core engine of Cold Lake's industrial transformation, driving the development of the local cultural tourism industry.
From silence to breaking out of the circle, Gobi town takes on new life
Heidu Mountain, located in Lenghu Town, has become the top cultural tourism destination on the Qinghai-Gansu Ring Road with its impactful ink painting landforms. This Gobi town with a permanent population of only more than 600 people will receive more than 1.6 million tourists in 2025.
At present, Lenghu Town has built a youth science education base integrating astronomy, planetary geology, and aerospace. During this year’s National Day holiday, nearly a hundred primary and secondary school students from all over the country completed a study experience here.
Today, in Lenghu Town, special businesses such as the Mars Camp immersive experience, the exploration of Erboliang Yadan, and the exploration of oil industry ruins have been launched one after another. During the peak tourist season, the town's hotel occupancy rate remains above 80% year-round, and supporting industries such as catering, accommodation, and cultural and creative industries continue to heat up. The Gobi town, which had been dormant for decades, is once again crowded with people. The excitement this time was more lively and imaginative than before.
The cold lake is not cold, the future has arrived
Wilderness landforms, large scientific installations, and industrial memories, three completely different temperaments collide in Cold Lake, making it a natural source of inspiration for science fiction creation. Up to now, more than 50 movies, documentaries and other film and television works have been shot in Cold Lake. This once silent Gobi wilderness is being upgraded from a "natural filming location" to an original science fiction film and television incubation base.
From the sonorous footsteps of the Red Army's Long March across the plateau, to the industrial pioneering of the oil man's roots in the Gobi, to today's new journey of light chasers chasing the sun and exploring the stars, generations of builders, researchers, and dream chasers have continued to struggle on this land and passed on the legacy. This is the most vivid continuation of the spirit of the Long March in the new era.
