13-Jul-2004 -- 33N – 117 E Anhui（安徽), China

Visit Date: July 13, 2004

This is the second line-hunting trip in the Anhui province of the Yip-Bannicq group (Ray) with friends from the GAP (Ms. Wei Xiaoyu, and Ms. Jiang Feng), Mr. Yang Huijun of China CDC, and Mr. Liu Aiewei of Anhui CDC.

We were traveling from the capital of Anhui, Hefei city to Lixin county located in the northern part of Anhui. The drive is over 300 km and the route supposes to come within 2-3 km from 33N-117E.

3 hours into our journey while driving on National highway 307, we reached the location where the confluence point is 2 km south of the highway. We took the nearest road going south, and this unpaved road became too muddy to forge forward after half a kilometer.

The remaining one and half km by foot was not an easy task either because of the serious mud. Some member of the hunting party had the smart idea going bear feet. There were a couple crossing of small creeks required some courage to jump over. We managed to reach the confluence point after 20 minutes of tacking in muddy path.

33N-117E located in a rice field about 50 meters from the nearest house of Bai-Hu village. Only when we reached the village we found out there is a paved road which can bring us within few meters to the location.

After a few photos for the first-time line hunters, we hike back on the muddy path. This line hunting all together took an hour. A good break from the 4 hours. The only downside is the hour we have to spend later to clean the mud off the shoes.

Rating of this hunt:

Degree of Challenge: 3 – one and half km track in muddy path suited for buffalo (Scale: 1= very easy - drive to the point; to 5= a death march – glad it is over)

Scenery: 2– classic central China rural area - very flat yet very green (Scale: 1= not interesting at all; 5= take your breath away)

Culture-social factors: 2– except for the kid with the buffalo nothing stands out (Scale: 1=dull; 5= most stimulating)