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Ruoergai Plateau Marshes is located within the territory of Ruoergai County of Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, with the total area of 16670.6 hectares. Ruoergai Grass Marshes is in the northwestern part of Sichuan province, which could be one of the main areas of peat wetland also the habitat for black-necked cranes that are the rare and special cranes in our country.
Ruoergai Plateau Marshes, the neighboring Hongyuan County and Qiang Autonomous prefecture of Aba Grass Marshes of today together form the known alpine cold marshes in the world. Ruoergai Plateau Marshes is the largest plateau marshes in our country, with abundant water and grass. There are almost three-million hectares of swamps, among which the swamps area and the swamping meadow covered one quarter of the whole area.
The land is flat and marshy before lowering to the intensive network of waterways. The gradient of rivers is very small, as of the river-bed of the Black River as the embranchment of the Yellow River or the long winding dragon swinging like a pendulum. The velocity of the river is only 0.4～0.8m/s. The environment that is too wet could make surface ponding.
We walked to the edge of the swamp and looked over it. Apparently it was boundless, and vast flocks of every sort of waterfowl flew from its recesses, till it was sometimes difficult to see the sky. The surface of the swamps was covered with grasses. Under the grasses were choked with the thick humic substances and peat. Thick accumulations of peat can form only if the swamp basin slowly subsides.
The grasses in many places are about waist-high yet can't be herding cattle. Vigorous young water plants thrust emerald-green crowns through a canopy of waist-high weeds. We are very self-involved beneath our feet. Ruoergai Plateau Marshes is abundant in the deposits of marshes and peat lands, with 3 billion cubic meters, which is the main base with the high quality peat resources in China.
The best travelling time is the summer season which is spoken of the broad prairie as the season. The sky is high and the weather is fine, which is perfect for traveling. Typically, you will have numerous options available to catch sight of the beautiful scenes because of its high visibility.
Standing between the heaven and earth, you could see the green grass like a carpet; flowers blooming like a piece of brocade could give off a rich perfume, which is distant and boundless. Myriads of small lakes are spread all along the grassland like stars in the sky. The water of the lake is green and clear. Minor rivers like the vines could string together large and small lakes like beads.
The water was clear to the bottom. Fishes that are playfully darting about are clearly visible. Such kind of picturesque scenes is suggestive of poetry and painting and its allure simply irresistible. The red autumn leaves blossomed all over the mountains and plains since mid-September. How ravishing the deep autumnal tints are!