Inner Mongolia Trip (8) – Flooded Road Blocked by Rain, Can We Still Pass? Passing Ulanbutong Requires Ticket Purchase

Day 8, July 30, 2016

Camped at the shed, cloudy with rain

5:00 AM, wake up, clean up, then go to gas station, also wash up

5:30 departure (via mountain route) – Xilamuren Grand Canyon – 6:14 Original plan was to go to Hongshanzi Township, changed route due to road construction, result was that the road was also blocked (due to heavy rain the previous night, more rain fell) returned to the Hongshanzi Township route (Black Birch Line), waited a while and it was passable – 6:50 Saw some landslides on the roadside, but didn't block the road – 7:10 Road blocked again, but villagers used excavators to dig out the mud, we could pass after waiting about half an hour – Hongshanzi Township, Batala Village, road conditions improved – Harmaba (raining), saw many vehicles and tourists, luckily, we were traveling in reverse, so not many people – 9:08 Birch Wood Gorge exit – S304 – 9:48 turned onto the Udatu line, villagers blocked the road and charged a fee, those who passed could buy a ticket and return the money after exiting – bought tickets and exited – turned towards the Dahagou direction, entered Dolonjie, Tuligen Grassland (heavy rain) – 11:20 entered Dahagou Township, turned onto S308 – 11:27 entered Hebei Province border S351 – Lidake – turned onto S532 towards Fenning – 12:37 entered Fenning border – later turned onto X506, poor road conditions, revisited the feeling of Alshan's three-meter small oil road – 14:34 turned onto G111 – 15:15 Tuchizi, the road behind was very bad, we turned back on the highway due to a blocked road – 15:55 Fenning Station turned onto Zhangcheng Expressway – Fenning East Expressway – 16:22 turned onto G112 – Fenning County turned onto S244 – 17:54 arrived at Laopaogu Gate, checked in

Morning, overcast sky

Departure

Xilamuren River

Gradually clearing

Xilamuren River

Landslides, fortunately, didn't erupt. Just flowing quickly in the river – 17:54

Met traffic jams on the road

Saw large buses slowly pass through

At that time, villagers used excavators to clear the mud, we waited for about half an hour and we could pass – 17:54

Turn left

Passed from Ulanbutong road, need to buy a ticket first, then pass through and return the money after exiting – bought tickets and exited – because just had a sudden rain, they became real 'wet chickens'

More flooded road, depth like large buses ������

Zhangcheng Expressway

To Beijing Huairou Laopaogu Gate to rest

Ahead, it's here