11-Jul-2006 -- 37N – 105E Gansu (甘肃), China

Line Hunting Date: July 11, 2006

The 7th confluence point of the Heart-of-China Expedition

This point was visited on the afternoon of day 11 of our expedition. After our visit to the Monument of the Geographic Center of China (Heart of China) in the morning we headed toward Yinchuan (银川), the capital of Ningxia. This confluence located about half way between Lanzhou (兰州), the capital of Gansu and Yinchuan which gave us a nice break from the 550 km drive.

A little detour from the long drive

This confluence point located near Dong Shen Township (东升乡) about 6 km from the expressway and not too from the border of Gansu and Ningxia. Most of the way we saw desert landscape with very few communities or expressway exits. We took the exit 20 km before the confluence point and followed the old highway (National Highway 109) to a turn off 1 km from our objective. We parked the car in a village with 220 meters left to go. This confluence point located in the middle of a potato field near an old and run down mud wall. We spend a total of half an hour in the village and continued on the old highway for 15 km and got back on the expressway. The line hunting break took less than an hour and added less than 10 km to the rather long drive – a perfect detour.

A colorful oasis

Even though this part of Gansu is mostly harsh desert environment, this confluence point located in the middle of a cluster of villages with all sorts of vegetable products. Other than potato fields, there were many patch of hot papers, and large field of sun flowers and corns. In the late afternoon sun, it was a rather colorful place. We also visited the sites where villagers are putting up a new Buddhist temple.

A long day became even longer

After the hunt, as we continued onward toward Yinchuan, our Land Cruiser suffered a blow out of the left rare tire just as the sun was setting, about 8.30 pm. At which point, we were still 180 km from Yinchuan. We reached Yinchuan around 10.30 am – 16 hours since we started the trip in Dongxiangzu County in Gansu. We drove over 750 km and visited the Monument of the Heart of China, crossed the yellow river by ferry, and hunted this particular confluence point – a very long and memorable day indeed.

Rating of this hunt:

Degree of Challenge:

1 – a straight forward drive up (1= very easy - drive to the point; to 5= a death march – glad it is over)

Scenery:

2 – farming area in the irrigated part of a huge desert with many agriculture products (Scale: 1= not interesting at all; 5= take your breath away)

Culture-social factors:

2 – typical rural community of north central China (Scale: 1=dull; 5= most stimulating)