#1: [31-Jul-03]

03-Jul-2006 -- 35N – 109E Shaanxi (陕西), China

Line Hunting Date: July 3, 2006

The Third confluence point of the Heart of China Expedition

This point was visited on the morning of day 4 of our trip to the Tibetan area in southern Gansu (甘肃) province – the Heart of China Expedition. It was about 1410 km since we left Beijing.

We started the day in Tong Chuan (铜川) city in central Shaanxi which was only 7 km northeast from Huang Bao Township (黄堡镇) where this confluence point located. The area also has several excavation sites of ancient pottery factory dating back to Tong dynasty.

The confluence point was about 2 km from national highway 206. Our first attempt brought us into a dead end valley with 430 meters km left to go but the hill side was too steep and muddy to climb. We retreated to a nearby village to start the hike with 860 meters left to go. The trials near the village was very muddy due to heavy rain so Florence decided to preserve her shoes and went visit the pottery museum nearby.

The hike toward the confluence point was all uphill with wet and muddy path. The point is located in a wide open field at the hill top and visibility was limited due to light fog.

After the hunt, we all meet up at the pottery museum and we were the only visitors. It took a good 15 minutes to clean off most the mud off Ray’s hiking boots. We started our road trip around 10 am and reached Tian Shui city (天水市) of Gansu province by 7 pm.

Rating of this hunt:

Degree of Challenge:

2 – wet and muddy trial made it slow going (1= very easy - drive to the point; to 5= a death march – glad it is over)

Scenery:

1– an open field under misty condition (Scale: 1= not interesting at all; 5= take your breath away)

Culture-social factors:

2 – Rural Shanxi farming community with a number of ancient pottery making sites (Scale: 1=dull; 5= most stimulating)