29-May-2005 -- 30 N – 118 E Anhui (安徽), China

Visit Date: May 29, 2005

This is our third and last line-hunting during our trip from Nanjing to Huangshen.

After our visit to 31N 118N late in the afternoon the previous day, we drove south and overnight at Tai Pin lake within Huangshen district. This put us 41 km from 30N 118 by crows fly to Hong village where confluence point is nearby.

Hong village is one of the half dozen well preserved historic villages in southern Anhui with most building dated back to Ming and Qing dynasties. It is also a major tourist attraction for those visiting the famous mountain - Huangshen (Yellow Mountain)

The road from Tai Ping lake to Hong village is a winding and scenic, and it took almost 2 hours. Much longer than we expected.

After drive through the congested visitors parking lot at Hong village, we found a dirt road nearby which took us to another ancient village name Fong. This village has not been developed for tourism located at shore of a large lake by the foothill of a series of small mountain. We parked 450 meters from the confluence point which located on the hill behind the Fong village.

We walk through the village and head up a hill planted with tea and mulberry trees (food for silk worms). This confluence point located half way up the small mountain overlooking the lake. There were a couple buffalos resting about 50 meters away.

The surrounding of this confluence point is truly a great combination – ancient village, pretty hills with tea plantation, and a lake. In many way, it is a nicer place to visit than the famous Hong village nearby.

We visited with some the villagers on the way down, and check out some of the old buildings. We departed the area by 11 am and headed to Xiu Ning city 50 km away where we have an appointment for lunch.

A suitable name for this confluence point: “Silk and Tea”

Rating of this hunt:

Degree of Challenge: 2 – A nice little hike up the hill (scale: 1= very easy - drive to the point; to 5= a death march – glad it is over)

Scenery: 5 – Hills by the lake side next to an ancient village (Scale: 1= not interesting at all; 5= take your breath away)

Culture-social factors: 4– over 5 hundred years of history of southern Anhui culture known as the Hui culture (Scale: 1=dull; 5= most stimulating)