29-May-2004 -- 36 N – 114 E Henan, China

Visit Date: May 29, 2004

This is the second confluence visit of the Henan Province on the same day by the Yip-Bannicq group (Ray Yip) and friends - Button Zhao, Vincent Wu, and Zhang Baolin

After leaving 35°N 114°E relatively early in the day, at 11 am we found 36N-114E, 25 km east of the expressway heading north to Beijing. Why not go for it?

We got off the expressway, stopped to eat a quick bowl of noodles in An Yang city and followed a busy highway going east. About 6 km away from the confluence point, we turned into a smaller and windier country road which seemed to take us straight toward the point.

By the time we abandoned the car, we were within 370 meters from the confluence point, almost the same walking distance as the first point we had hunted for earlier in the morning.

After going up a hill which is tiers of newly planted farm land, we found the confluence point on the other side of the hill, about 3/4 km from the nearest village across the valley

The nearby village appears to be a new settlement – almost all the houses are newly built red brick buildings. This area is part of the Ma Jia Township of An Yang County.

Two successful line hunting by early afternoon. The visits provided a basic appreciation of what northern Henan rural areas really look like, which we would not have been able to grasp had we just driven straight through via the expressway.

By the time we made it back to the expressway, it was almost 4 pm, and we still had 400 km to go before reaching Beijing. We made it back to Beijing before midnight, and the extra time we spend for the two line hunting was well worth it.

Rating of this hunt:

Degree of Challenge: 1 – straight forward drive to 370 meters from the point (Scale: 1= very easy - drive to the point; to 5= a death march – glad it is over)

Scenery: 3 – Hilly and rural scenery of north and central China with relatively dense population (Scale: 1= not interesting at all; 5= take your breath away)

Culture-social factors: 3– rural agriculture communities (Scale: 1=dull; 5= most stimulating)