#2: [05-Jul-06]

#1: [10-Aug-05]

24-Jun-2011 -- This is the second out of 20 confluences that I reached on my bicycle trip along the Great Wall of China. The story starts at 41N 115E.

On day no.4 of my bike trip from Běijīng I got up at 4:00 a.m. (best time of the day for cycling) and rode 50 km to the city of Huàdé (化德) to have breakfast in a noodle shop. From Huàdé, I followed unpaved tracks for 15 km (10 km beeline) over the Mongolian prairieland. To my surprise I was suddenly overtook by a galloping crowd of Mongolian equestrians

At a distance of 500 m I passed through a small village and parked my bicycle at a fence at a distance of 170 m from the confluence. The little hike over a blooming field was pretty pretty and pretty easy.

The confluence is located on slightly rolling hills with pure grasslands extending in all directions.

In the evening I reached the town Xīnbǎolāgé (新宝拉格镇) where I had a flat tire just before entering town.

Let me tell the funny story of the day: when I was under the shower in my hotel room, someone knocked very loud at my door. Due to the haevyness of the knocking, I knew it must be something serious coming up. It turned out to be caused by 3 policemen who straightly entered my room after I had opened the door, telling me that this hotel was for Chinese only. Foreigners need to stay in the best hotel on the other side of town. I replied that I personally find this hotel good enough and would rather not to pack all my stuff (which was spread out all over the place) and change the hotel. Well, the policemen took their duty very serious and made me move. So I packed again, checked out of the hotel, reported at the police station and then I was guided by a police bus across town (3 km) to the foreigners-suitable hotel. However, the hotel turned out to be completely occupied. Even though the policemen made all efforts to make the hotel staff provide me a hotel room, there was nothing the staff could do since the hotel was absolutely booked out. I couldn’t hide my laughter. After some phone calls with the main police station, one police man told me to go back to my former hotel (which I did).

CP Visit Details:

• Distance to an asphalt road: 6 km
• Distance to a road: 3.2 km
• Distance to a track: 170 m
• Distance of parking the bike: 170 m
• Distance to houses: 470 m
• Time starting the hike: 11:55 a.m.
• Time at the CP: 12:00 a.m.
• Measured height: 1506 m
• Minimal distance according to GPS: 1 m
• Position accuracy at the CP: 4 m
• Topography: rolling hills
• Vegetation: grassland, flowers
• Weather: sunny, 32° C (felt temperature)
• Description of the CP: 10 km straight north of Huàdé in the Autonomous Region Inner Mongolia. 300 km north-east of Běijīng.
• Given Name: The Equestrian Overtaking Confluence

Story continues at 43N 113E.