09-Nov-2004 -- 42N – 119E Inner Mongolia, China

Visit Date: November 9, 2004

This is the third line hunting for the YB group in Inner Mongolia joined by Button Zhou and Zhang Baolin. It is also the third points of 119 E we visited since early October (40N 119E and 41N 119E).

We were invited to a workshop in Chefeng City, the eastern major city of Inner Mongolia, about 450 km north of Beijing. The twice weekly flight was not suitable for our schedule, so we had to drive there. This particular point is located about 35 km south of Chefeng city, and about 5 km off the national highway which we must travel through.

We departed Beijing around mid afternoon on November 8 and weather was not very inspiring, cloudy and misty. We drove almost 300 km before we stop for the night in Ping Quing County of Hebei, right near the border of Liaoning, and Inner Mongolia.

Next morning, the weather turned brilliant, and the drive toward Chefeng was most enjoyable. About 5 km from the CP, we left the main highway and took a dirt road which brought us to 1.3 km away from the CP. We manage to find a trial and push the car up the hill and stopped at750 meters from the CP.

We crossed a hillside of mixed farmland and woods and found the confluence point located in the middle of a field. The nearest village (Tia-Jiang-Chun) is less than 1 km away . It is part of the Lou-Zi-Dian Township of the Ka-La-Xin-Qi county of Inner Mongolia.

The detour for this line hunting took about 40 minutes, and we reached Chefeng before 11 am.

Rating of this hunt:

Degree of Challenge: 2 – the drive up a dirt road up the hill on a trial requires some attention (Scale: 1= very easy - drive to the point; to 5= a death march – glad it is over)

Scenery: 3– Pleasant hill areas with good view (Scale: 1= not interesting at all; 5= take your breath away)

Culture-social factors: 2– typical farming community of northern China (Scale: 1=dull; 5= most stimulating)