Yeah, I agree with you. The second version is more poetic and vivid. The sky is grey, grey, the steppe wide wide...
Xinjiang area accounts for about 1/6 of the total China with a small population. Most of land belongs to gobi desert. I have seen the stark and bare Gobi and the tremendous mountains from the train. However, I didn't get out of Wusu city. For my part, there the city is nothing more than countryside. I mean the place is so extensive but scarcely populated due to the long and cold winter. However, Xinjiang is so big and there are a lot of beautiful sightseeing spots. It is said that best landscape lies in South Xinjiang and Yili/伊犁 valley. Pitifully we have no chance to visit it.
Undoubtly, the park of my photos in summer is also rather cheerful and agreeable...like an oil painting...