#4: [01-Jul-10]

#2: [31-Jul-04]

#1: [23-Jul-04]

21-Feb-2006 --

32 N – 119 E Jiangsu (江苏), China

Line Hunting Date: February 21, 2006

The low-hanging-fruit Confluence Point of Jiangsu

This particular confluence point is the closest one to Nanjing (南京), the capital of Jiangsu – 30 km from city center. For the most provinces where we have done line hunting, those near the capitals were the first ones to visit, hence regarded as the low-hanging-fruit point. However, this was the 8th point we visited, out of the total of 9 confluence point in Jiangsu.

One flight earlier – the standard procedure of line-hunting in Jiangsu

Like several previous hunts we did in Jiangsu and Anhui, Ray took an earlier flight from Beijing to meet up with Button at Nanjing airport. The flight arrived around 3 pm and we took off for the hunt immediately. In this case, Xiao Ding who arranged the transportation also joined the hunting party.

New car interfered with hunting

Within 2 km from Nanjing airport we found a newly paved highway heading toward the CP which was 27 km away by GPS distance. In 20 minutes we left this main road and starting to approach the CP on a decent dirt road with 2.6 km further to go. At which point, the driver of the near brand new Honda mini-van started to complain about that the road condition. When we reached about 1.5 km from the CP, the driver refused to go any further because of a couple small pot holes filled with water and claiming it could be very deep and afraid of damage to the wheels. We gladly got out of the car and approach the CP by foot to get some exercise and fresh air. Also, it was good to get away from the whiny driver. With all the driving we did every year in China, by far this was the most timid driver we ever came across.

Pleasant walk in the country side for an easy hunt

The walk toward the confluence was a pleasant one with tea plantations on gentle hills. Within 500 meters from the CP, there were a number of fish ponds. We found the CP located on a small hill overlooking the fish ponds. Afterward we visited the house closest to the confluence point, about 200 meters away, and learned about the hatchery business from the couple living there. We learned from them that the village name – Meng Fen Chun (孟坟村)– suppose to mean the tomb of a famous historic figure or beauty known as Meng Jiang Nu.

We made it back to Nanjing before 6 pm and grateful to find out that there was no banquet awaiting us. This entire hunt took less than 3 hours, exactly the extra time gained by taking an earlier flight from Beijing.

Rating of this hunt:

Degree of Challenge: 1 – A easy drive and walk. (1= very easy - drive to the point; to 5= a death march – glad it is over)

Scenery: 2– Pleasant but not very special for this part of China (Scale: 1= not interesting at all; 5= take your breath away)

Culture-social factors: 2– typical rural villages in Southern Jiangsu (Scale: 1=dull; 5= most stimulating)