04-Mar-2008 -- The two closest confluence points to Beijing are around 50 km from the city. Being short of time I chose the one straight East. I planned to take a taxi, but it turned out that the Beijing taxis are not allowed to go out of town: They could only take me to the border of Hebei province where I could hope to find a Hebei taxi to take me the last bit. I could not risk that time wise, and when a grand limousine (Audi A 8) was put at my disposal, I just accepted and went along with Ms. Zhang Jie, a Chinese pianist living in Norway, but now on a concert tour in China.

The description of how to get to the confluence point by the first visitor made it easy. From the main road 102 it was 3 km north to the cp which was in a burnt maize field. On the road northwards we passed a chemical factory, probably fertilizers by the smell of it, and a couple of minor factories making cement sewage pipes.

The weather was nice, around 11 centigrade, sunny and fresh, clear air.

If you have more time it is possible to go by bus from Beijing to the village of Liqichuang on the 102 highway. From their you can go the last three kilometers by a san luan che, one of the three wheeled taxis found at the entrance of the lane going North.

PS.The time on the GPS is CET, i.e. + 7 h Beijing time.