Gongnaisi River

Gongnaisi River

Gongnaisi River

The vast and crystal-clear waters of the Gongnaisi River flow without foam. Only at the bends where the current crashes against rocks do calm whirlpools spread outward in rings before smoothing out toward the west like a flat piece of cloth... Dense thickets of four to five-meter-tall reeds shift through various hues as the seasons change. One thinks of summer when cattle and sheep gather thick as woven cloth, high mountain snowmelt increases, and tens of thousands of streams from the alpine grasslands rapidly converge into the Gongnaisi River. Floating among them are “herbal pills” made by livestock from traditional Chinese medicine, dyeing the water a ochre-yellow. This also happens to be wild fishing season, when the docile “dogfish” and grass carp swim upstream. In the icy cold waters of the upper reaches, the nationally second-class protected alpine fish, the Ili perch (renowned as the Eastern Dace), lies on the riverbed. This is the Gongnaisi River in summer.

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It’s only October, yet thick snow has already blanketed the land, leaving the world an expanse of white. Only the black asphalt road winds through the landscape, drawing sinuous curves. The branches of the secondary willow thickets in the Gongnaisi River Valley are frozen bright red, standing upright and clustered together, interspersed with needlegrass that resembles the hats of Kazakh girls. Despite the bitter cold and falling snow, the fast-flowing Gongnaisi River cannot freeze over. Snow only accumulates along the left bank and in calmer sections, spreading inward. On the riverbanks, the reed thickets take on a yellow hue, their fluff blooming larger. In the folds of the continuous mountain ranges, near the river, cattle, sheep, horses, and camels graze on withered grass amid wind and snow. The twisting and turning Gongnaisi River nourishes the families on both banks, the lush water plants, and the plump fish and shrimp. Against the backdrop of the surrounding snowy white, the Gongnaisi River alternates between stillness like a piece of jade and gentle flow, allowing you to feel its tenderness even in winter.