After a night in Lan Gao, our group would head back to Ankang for lunch (I really don't think we could have eaten any more food) and then head on out to Xi'an.
Before we left the Lan Gao area, we would make one last stop to look at some chestnut trees. This site would again be on very steep slopes but this time would primarily have Castanea mollissima. We could not confirm whether these trees were wild or naturalized, but they were likely not planted.
We spent less than an hour at the site so that we could get back to Ankang on time. Xi'an is a 5 hour - at least - drive from Ankang, so we wanted to leave shortly after lunch. We were making pretty good time, but the roads were very twisty and turny - it took us quite some time to get onto the road that's much like a Turnpike. We did have to stop to get gas before we got on the major Road. And Fred needed a Slim Jim and a Coke. The Coke was there, but he had to settle for a bag of Chinese crackers.
Most of us took little naps - it had been a long trip. But after about 2 hours, we were stopped by a police blockade. We were about the 4th or 5th vehicle to be stopped. Thankfully, we were stopped right by a rest area. We learned traffic was stopped because of a bad accident in a tunnel a few miles up the road. Turns out there were several very long tunnels up ahead. So, we stayed there for about 3 hours while the accident was cleared.
It wasn't such a bad time, actually. What was refreshing about this wait is that everyone around us seemed to be taking the delay in stride. A snack stand, complete with drinks and snacks (including two types of chicken feet), opened up outside the rest area. The folks beside us whipped out some moon cakes, pears, and started playing cards. Most people milled about outside their cars chatting. Noone seemed upset. What a different scene I would suspect we would see in the US.
Fred pondered if his extra stop to get a drink and snack saved us from an accident. You never know . . .
Measuring Castanea mollissima at forest plot in Bashan mountains. Having climbed down to this tree, I can tell you the slope was pretty darn steep, the steepest I'd went down so far. I think Kim and Songlin measured it at 93%. I had on my boots. Mr. Liao, to my right, was wearing loafers. I am not kidding. They were pretty nice shoes. It looked like he hardly even got them dirty.
Not the most flattering pose, but we all got in a nap or two during the duration of our trip, espeically going from Ankang to Xi'an.
The group waits for the traffic jam to clear up.
A magical bottle of Coke and Chinese crackers??? At least we got stopped next to a rest stop and not in the middle of nowhere next to an 8km long tunnel on up the road. We'll give the snacks at least this special citation for their possible role in keeping us comfortable, if not safe and alive.
Before we left the Lan Gao area, we would make one last stop to look at some chestnut trees. This site would again be on very steep slopes but this time would primarily have Castanea mollissima. We could not confirm whether these trees were wild or naturalized, but they were likely not planted.
We spent less than an hour at the site so that we could get back to Ankang on time. Xi'an is a 5 hour - at least - drive from Ankang, so we wanted to leave shortly after lunch. We were making pretty good time, but the roads were very twisty and turny - it took us quite some time to get onto the road that's much like a Turnpike. We did have to stop to get gas before we got on the major Road. And Fred needed a Slim Jim and a Coke. The Coke was there, but he had to settle for a bag of Chinese crackers.
Most of us took little naps - it had been a long trip. But after about 2 hours, we were stopped by a police blockade. We were about the 4th or 5th vehicle to be stopped. Thankfully, we were stopped right by a rest area. We learned traffic was stopped because of a bad accident in a tunnel a few miles up the road. Turns out there were several very long tunnels up ahead. So, we stayed there for about 3 hours while the accident was cleared.
It wasn't such a bad time, actually. What was refreshing about this wait is that everyone around us seemed to be taking the delay in stride. A snack stand, complete with drinks and snacks (including two types of chicken feet), opened up outside the rest area. The folks beside us whipped out some moon cakes, pears, and started playing cards. Most people milled about outside their cars chatting. Noone seemed upset. What a different scene I would suspect we would see in the US.
Fred pondered if his extra stop to get a drink and snack saved us from an accident. You never know . . .
Measuring Castanea mollissima at forest plot in Bashan mountains. Having climbed down to this tree, I can tell you the slope was pretty darn steep, the steepest I'd went down so far. I think Kim and Songlin measured it at 93%. I had on my boots. Mr. Liao, to my right, was wearing loafers. I am not kidding. They were pretty nice shoes. It looked like he hardly even got them dirty.
Not the most flattering pose, but we all got in a nap or two during the duration of our trip, espeically going from Ankang to Xi'an.
The group waits for the traffic jam to clear up.
A magical bottle of Coke and Chinese crackers??? At least we got stopped next to a rest stop and not in the middle of nowhere next to an 8km long tunnel on up the road. We'll give the snacks at least this special citation for their possible role in keeping us comfortable, if not safe and alive.
We would stop at Nan Gongshan National Park to have lunch. As luck would have it, the mayor of Ankang was also dining at Nan Gongshan that afternoon. There were TV cameras, regular cameras, and many handlers for the mayor. Mr. Fang wei Feng was the consummate politician. He spoke with us for several minutes, extolling the many natural wonders of the area and letting us know how interested he was in chestnut trees. He actually was a pleasure to meet him.
After meeting the mayor and eating much, much, much more food than is really good for any one person, we set off into the park. Our first stop would be up to the temple in the park. Unfortunately, about half-way up the mountain, we encountered some nasty fog which lasted the all the way to the top. So our view of the temple and anything from the mountain was quite obscured.
We didn't have any time to tour the temple since it was already early afternoon. With the fog settling in, we knew - and were told - that it would be too dangerous to try and scale the mountains of the area to take data on chesntut trees. The combination of 80 degree (!!) slope, skree, and pea-soup fog was just too risky. So we decided to make our way to a fog-free zone to see what we could find. We actually did see a lot of trees.
In fact, it was here that we saw what we could absolutely, positively be certain were wild Chinese chestnut trees. But it was also at this point that our hosts told us something a little sad, at least for this trip. Mr. Chen basically said that if we really wanted to see a lot of wild Chinese and possibly large chestnut trees, that we would need at least a week in the area. He noted that we would need to backpack in about a day, camp out, and explore a couple of different sites.
Sign me up!!
But we were able to take some general measurements on about 10 more trees before it was too dark to continue. At that point, we would head back to Lan Gao where we would eat another huge meal and stay for the night.
Meeting the mayor of Ankang at Nan Gongshan National Park. The mayor, Mr. Fang wei Feng is the white shirt between Kim and Fred P.
After coming down from the temple side, we started our data collection at a small set of Castanea henryi. These trees appear to have been damaged during recent road construction.
Larger Castanea henryi just down the road from the trees above. This tree was in very good health and quite large for the area, about 65' tall and around 13-15" dbh.
Rock pile leading to C. henryi above. The slopes here were very steep, approaching 80°+ in places. As shown in this picture, leaves on this tree were right down to the ground and easily accessible for appropriate species identification.
Burs of Castanea mollissima, just down the road from C. henryi above. Again, this tree is located down a very steep and rocky slope that leads to a stream below. As I recall, the slope made this tree inaccessible for measurement.
This is a view across the ravine from the main road along which we were measuring trees. Across the ravine, from what we were told, is a forest just full of chestnuts, especially Castanea mollissima and C. henryi. If you click on this picture and zoom in, you may be able to pick out the chestnuts by looking for trees with burs on them. They were probably 20% of the trees we could view from the road on the other side.
Fog settling in over Nan Gongshan Park. It tracked us all the way down throughout the afternoon and early evening.
After meeting the mayor and eating much, much, much more food than is really good for any one person, we set off into the park. Our first stop would be up to the temple in the park. Unfortunately, about half-way up the mountain, we encountered some nasty fog which lasted the all the way to the top. So our view of the temple and anything from the mountain was quite obscured.
We didn't have any time to tour the temple since it was already early afternoon. With the fog settling in, we knew - and were told - that it would be too dangerous to try and scale the mountains of the area to take data on chesntut trees. The combination of 80 degree (!!) slope, skree, and pea-soup fog was just too risky. So we decided to make our way to a fog-free zone to see what we could find. We actually did see a lot of trees.
In fact, it was here that we saw what we could absolutely, positively be certain were wild Chinese chestnut trees. But it was also at this point that our hosts told us something a little sad, at least for this trip. Mr. Chen basically said that if we really wanted to see a lot of wild Chinese and possibly large chestnut trees, that we would need at least a week in the area. He noted that we would need to backpack in about a day, camp out, and explore a couple of different sites.
Sign me up!!
But we were able to take some general measurements on about 10 more trees before it was too dark to continue. At that point, we would head back to Lan Gao where we would eat another huge meal and stay for the night.
Meeting the mayor of Ankang at Nan Gongshan National Park. The mayor, Mr. Fang wei Feng is the white shirt between Kim and Fred P.
After coming down from the temple side, we started our data collection at a small set of Castanea henryi. These trees appear to have been damaged during recent road construction.
Larger Castanea henryi just down the road from the trees above. This tree was in very good health and quite large for the area, about 65' tall and around 13-15" dbh.
Rock pile leading to C. henryi above. The slopes here were very steep, approaching 80°+ in places. As shown in this picture, leaves on this tree were right down to the ground and easily accessible for appropriate species identification.
Burs of Castanea mollissima, just down the road from C. henryi above. Again, this tree is located down a very steep and rocky slope that leads to a stream below. As I recall, the slope made this tree inaccessible for measurement.
This is a view across the ravine from the main road along which we were measuring trees. Across the ravine, from what we were told, is a forest just full of chestnuts, especially Castanea mollissima and C. henryi. If you click on this picture and zoom in, you may be able to pick out the chestnuts by looking for trees with burs on them. They were probably 20% of the trees we could view from the road on the other side.
Fog settling in over Nan Gongshan Park. It tracked us all the way down throughout the afternoon and early evening.
On our second day in Ankang, we would get up and travel to Nan Gongshan National Park, about 3 hours southwest of Ankang, near the town of Lan Gao. This area is well-visited by tourists. As we entered the area, there were many billboards advertising whitewater trips as well as opportunities to see a lot of wildlife.
The landscape from Ankang to Lan Gao was slighly different than what we had seen between Yichang and Dalaoling. The major difference was the slope of the mountains - very, very steep! Even steeper than what we encountered at Dalaoling. As a result, there was not as much cultivation (although there was still a lot of it). We hardly saw any tea planted here, most likely because of a difference in climate (too cold, we imagined).
In Lan Gao, we picked up the Director of Forestry for the area, Mr. Liao. Between Lan Gao and Nan Gaoshan, we briefly stopped at an area where reforestation efforts with Chinese chestnut ("ban li") were underway. We asked why Chinese chestnut. They replied that the species would not only provide stability for the mountainside (vs. planting corn or rice), but that it would also provide a crop at the same time. Although the trees would be weeded (by hand) and planted in rows much like in an orchard, because the trees were being planted as part of an afforestation project, they would be overseen by the local forestry administration, no agriculture.
Before lunch, we would also travel to an area where some local people were cutting Castanea henryi for firewood. As we climbed up the muddy road, the sound of chainsaws and axes grew louder and louder. As we approached a local home, we met several local loggers actively cutting both Castanea henryi and Castanea mollissima. We stopped to chat and measure a couple of the felled Castanea mollissima.
After meeting the loggers, we continue to climb up the mountain, past the house and through their garden, to an area where the loggers had already cut several specimens. It was actually somewhat lucky to have them cut as we had an opportunity to look at the growth and count their ages.
We took data on a handful of trees and then had a decision to make. We could either hike on up about 2 miles to see a large stand of Castanea seguinii or we could make our way to the Park to begin looking at the trees there. Having eaten so much food as we had, my vote was for the hike, but I was overruled (and for good reason - we would see more Castanea mollissima in the Park). We would make our way to the park and, with it, lunch!
More farming with terracing. Terracing is even more necessary in this area. And notice the vegetables growing right along the side of the road. Someone on the bus quipped about how this is one place [China] where you could definitely get hit by a car while gardening.
Measuring a fallen Castanea mollissima with the local loggers.
Castanea henryi nut and bur.
Castanea henryi leaves and burs. The leaves of C. henryi are more like those of Castanea crenata (Japanese chestnut) than any other species. C. henryi leaves are typically more narrow (especially true of sun-leaves) and are totally glabrous (without hairs) on the underside. C. crenata has many stellate hairs and 9-celled trichomes on the underside.
Songlin and Fred work their way up through the fallen trees. All of those trees are chestnuts, either C. henryi or C. mollissima, cut primarily for firewood. These trees were all approximately 28-32 years of age.
Cut portion of Castanea mollissima with Kim's pen.
The landscape from Ankang to Lan Gao was slighly different than what we had seen between Yichang and Dalaoling. The major difference was the slope of the mountains - very, very steep! Even steeper than what we encountered at Dalaoling. As a result, there was not as much cultivation (although there was still a lot of it). We hardly saw any tea planted here, most likely because of a difference in climate (too cold, we imagined).
In Lan Gao, we picked up the Director of Forestry for the area, Mr. Liao. Between Lan Gao and Nan Gaoshan, we briefly stopped at an area where reforestation efforts with Chinese chestnut ("ban li") were underway. We asked why Chinese chestnut. They replied that the species would not only provide stability for the mountainside (vs. planting corn or rice), but that it would also provide a crop at the same time. Although the trees would be weeded (by hand) and planted in rows much like in an orchard, because the trees were being planted as part of an afforestation project, they would be overseen by the local forestry administration, no agriculture.
Before lunch, we would also travel to an area where some local people were cutting Castanea henryi for firewood. As we climbed up the muddy road, the sound of chainsaws and axes grew louder and louder. As we approached a local home, we met several local loggers actively cutting both Castanea henryi and Castanea mollissima. We stopped to chat and measure a couple of the felled Castanea mollissima.
After meeting the loggers, we continue to climb up the mountain, past the house and through their garden, to an area where the loggers had already cut several specimens. It was actually somewhat lucky to have them cut as we had an opportunity to look at the growth and count their ages.
We took data on a handful of trees and then had a decision to make. We could either hike on up about 2 miles to see a large stand of Castanea seguinii or we could make our way to the Park to begin looking at the trees there. Having eaten so much food as we had, my vote was for the hike, but I was overruled (and for good reason - we would see more Castanea mollissima in the Park). We would make our way to the park and, with it, lunch!
More farming with terracing. Terracing is even more necessary in this area. And notice the vegetables growing right along the side of the road. Someone on the bus quipped about how this is one place [China] where you could definitely get hit by a car while gardening.
Though hard to differentiate in this picture, this whole hillside is covered in planted Chinese chestnuts as part of reforestation efforts. The trees toward the bottom of the hill are about 1-2 years old. The trees at the middle of the hill are about 3-4 years old. And those at the top of the hill are about 6 years old. Previously, this area would be cultivated for other crops, likely corn and/or rice.
The mountains here are steep and big! Farming has to be chore in this area. While travelling through this area, Fred H. used this opportunity to tell one of his favorite West Virginia jokes. Something like: "A fellow was going down the road in West Virginia and spotted a farmer lying in the middle of the road. He went up to the farmer and said 'Hey mister, you alright?'. The farmer said, 'Yeah, I reckon. But that's the third time this week I've fallen out of my cornfield.'". Actually, that's probably the kindest joke about West Virginia that was told during this trip. But actually, we saw several cornfields where you definitely could fall out. It's much steeper than WV.
Measuring a fallen Castanea mollissima with the local loggers.
Castanea henryi nut and bur.
Castanea henryi leaves and burs. The leaves of C. henryi are more like those of Castanea crenata (Japanese chestnut) than any other species. C. henryi leaves are typically more narrow (especially true of sun-leaves) and are totally glabrous (without hairs) on the underside. C. crenata has many stellate hairs and 9-celled trichomes on the underside.
Songlin and Fred work their way up through the fallen trees. All of those trees are chestnuts, either C. henryi or C. mollissima, cut primarily for firewood. These trees were all approximately 28-32 years of age.
Cut portion of Castanea mollissima with Kim's pen.
After resting during the morning and a very, very, very heavy lunch, our group set out to the chestnut producing region of Jihe. We visited several pieces of an orchard that was terraced on a steep slope in the area.
The trees at this orchard were infected with several maladies, including chestnut blight. It did appear, though, that the chestnut blight was the least of the problems for these trees. It also appears as though there were two major influences on the amount of problems encountered by these trees.
The first would be that the trees were planted on very marginal land. The second major influence appears to be the poor pruning/maintenance employed on the trees. Not all problems on the trees were identified, but did include a fungus not Cryphonectria parasitica as well as light gall wasp infection.
Also of interest at this site were that there were planted individuals of Castanea crenata.
Gall wasp on Chinese chestnut. This appears to be an older gall, probably from an infection from last year. Infection did not seem to be pervasive or detrimental at this orchard.
Fred Paillet stands next to an individual at the orchard that appears to be in very bad shape. The tree is infected with a couple of different kinds of fungi, including Cryphonectria parasitica. The cambiium layer on almost half the main stem appears to be missing. Many of the trees at this site appeared in similarly poor health.
The substrate on which the trees were planted. The substrate appeared very similar to a shale-type that one would find in the US. I'll need to confirm w/ Paillet what this stuff actually was.
Our group poses in the orchard. From left to right is Dr. Kim Steiner, Mr. Chen (Director of Forest Regeneration in Ankang), Sara Fitzsimmons, Dr. Fred Paillet, Dr. Fred Hebard, Mr. Cao ((Director of Extension for the Ankang Region (almost 9000 mi^2!!!), Dr. Lu Zhoumin (from Northwest Agricultural and Forestry University in Xi'an).
A woman shakes a tree in the orchard so she can collect the nuts that fall. There were several local people at the orchard working to gather nuts while we were observing the trees.
The largest Castanea mollissima we saw on the trip. This is what we all think is a "naturalized" specimen, likely from another orchard. The tree was spared with the land was cleared for the current chestnut orchard. I believe our hosts said the tree was about 200 years old. But, also like the other trees in the orchard, it was not in the best of health.
The trees at this orchard were infected with several maladies, including chestnut blight. It did appear, though, that the chestnut blight was the least of the problems for these trees. It also appears as though there were two major influences on the amount of problems encountered by these trees.
The first would be that the trees were planted on very marginal land. The second major influence appears to be the poor pruning/maintenance employed on the trees. Not all problems on the trees were identified, but did include a fungus not Cryphonectria parasitica as well as light gall wasp infection.
Also of interest at this site were that there were planted individuals of Castanea crenata.
The orchard we visited in the Jihe region just south of Ankang.
Gall wasp on Chinese chestnut. This appears to be an older gall, probably from an infection from last year. Infection did not seem to be pervasive or detrimental at this orchard.
Fred Paillet stands next to an individual at the orchard that appears to be in very bad shape. The tree is infected with a couple of different kinds of fungi, including Cryphonectria parasitica. The cambiium layer on almost half the main stem appears to be missing. Many of the trees at this site appeared in similarly poor health.
The substrate on which the trees were planted. The substrate appeared very similar to a shale-type that one would find in the US. I'll need to confirm w/ Paillet what this stuff actually was.
Our group poses in the orchard. From left to right is Dr. Kim Steiner, Mr. Chen (Director of Forest Regeneration in Ankang), Sara Fitzsimmons, Dr. Fred Paillet, Dr. Fred Hebard, Mr. Cao ((Director of Extension for the Ankang Region (almost 9000 mi^2!!!), Dr. Lu Zhoumin (from Northwest Agricultural and Forestry University in Xi'an).
A woman shakes a tree in the orchard so she can collect the nuts that fall. There were several local people at the orchard working to gather nuts while we were observing the trees.
The largest Castanea mollissima we saw on the trip. This is what we all think is a "naturalized" specimen, likely from another orchard. The tree was spared with the land was cleared for the current chestnut orchard. I believe our hosts said the tree was about 200 years old. But, also like the other trees in the orchard, it was not in the best of health.
After spending four days at Dalaoling, our group headed up to Ankang in Shaanxi province. After a 3 hour drive back to Yichang City, our group had a final lunch with our hosts from Dalaoling in Yichang. Then, we headed off to the train station where we would ride in a soft care - for about 10 hours! - to Ankang.
The trip actually wasn't that bad. On the trains in China, one can either ride in a "hard car" or a "soft car". The hard cars mean all you get is a seat. The soft cars mean that there are four beds in a room. There were seven of us.
We had the mistaken impression that one could kind of rent out the whole room. But that's not the case. Once just rents the beds, like you would any seat. How strange that one could share sleeping arrangements with three other complete strangers! But our group split so there would be only one other person w/ the Freds and Songlin, and he didn't arrive until almost midnight.
We finally arrived in Ankang at about 2:30am. IT was drizzling a bit, but our hosts met us and accompanied us to our hotel. Thankfully, they would give us until noon to rest. Still, most of us got up early and used the morning after breakfast to go out and explore the town of Ankang.
Our last meal with our Dalaoling hosts in Yichang City.
As everywhere else on the trip, we ate well on the train. Here, Songlin shares with us his passion for fish heads. While I do not share his passion, I appreciate that he likes them. And he is always welcome to those fish heads that are presented to me in the future.
Out on the town of Ankang. Our first chance to buy chestnuts! In the pan, the marketer roasts larger nuts of "ban li" while they call the smaller nuts in the basket at right from "mao li". When pertaining to trees, the "mao li" would be Castanea seguinii and "ban li" would be Castanea mollissima. Of course, it's very difficult to tell the difference between the species on nuts alone. We had our suspicions that those in the market just call small nuts "mao li" and large nuts "ban li", without - necessarily - any connection to the actual species. But we can't confirm that.
A scene from the part of the market with fresh produce. It was incredible to see the amount of fresh meats and vegetables at this market. I'll post some other images of the markets around Ankang later. What even more impressive, though, is that most of the time, these carts are brought in by a person. They aren't hauled by a large truck, but a person. It was incredible to see farmers lugging these carts up the road - usually while smoking a cigarette. They have to be very heavy.
More food! In the foreground, you'll see what I *swear* was the Chinese version of beans and cornbread. All I wanted was a little bit of tabasco or Frank's Red Hot and it would have been perfect. It's hard to believe, but we ate _even more_ in Ankang than we had been. Thanks to Madame Tang, we never had less than 20 dishes at any given meal. You would be so full and really think there could be no way they'd bring more food, and there the waitresses would be, bringing in a whole fish, another stew, and a huge thing of rice. Every time the door would creak open, we'd all cring, just knowing there'd be more food coming along.
The trip actually wasn't that bad. On the trains in China, one can either ride in a "hard car" or a "soft car". The hard cars mean all you get is a seat. The soft cars mean that there are four beds in a room. There were seven of us.
We had the mistaken impression that one could kind of rent out the whole room. But that's not the case. Once just rents the beds, like you would any seat. How strange that one could share sleeping arrangements with three other complete strangers! But our group split so there would be only one other person w/ the Freds and Songlin, and he didn't arrive until almost midnight.
We finally arrived in Ankang at about 2:30am. IT was drizzling a bit, but our hosts met us and accompanied us to our hotel. Thankfully, they would give us until noon to rest. Still, most of us got up early and used the morning after breakfast to go out and explore the town of Ankang.
Our last meal with our Dalaoling hosts in Yichang City.
View from the train as the sun sets.
As everywhere else on the trip, we ate well on the train. Here, Songlin shares with us his passion for fish heads. While I do not share his passion, I appreciate that he likes them. And he is always welcome to those fish heads that are presented to me in the future.
Out on the town of Ankang. Our first chance to buy chestnuts! In the pan, the marketer roasts larger nuts of "ban li" while they call the smaller nuts in the basket at right from "mao li". When pertaining to trees, the "mao li" would be Castanea seguinii and "ban li" would be Castanea mollissima. Of course, it's very difficult to tell the difference between the species on nuts alone. We had our suspicions that those in the market just call small nuts "mao li" and large nuts "ban li", without - necessarily - any connection to the actual species. But we can't confirm that.
A scene from the part of the market with fresh produce. It was incredible to see the amount of fresh meats and vegetables at this market. I'll post some other images of the markets around Ankang later. What even more impressive, though, is that most of the time, these carts are brought in by a person. They aren't hauled by a large truck, but a person. It was incredible to see farmers lugging these carts up the road - usually while smoking a cigarette. They have to be very heavy.
More food! In the foreground, you'll see what I *swear* was the Chinese version of beans and cornbread. All I wanted was a little bit of tabasco or Frank's Red Hot and it would have been perfect. It's hard to believe, but we ate _even more_ in Ankang than we had been. Thanks to Madame Tang, we never had less than 20 dishes at any given meal. You would be so full and really think there could be no way they'd bring more food, and there the waitresses would be, bringing in a whole fish, another stew, and a huge thing of rice. Every time the door would creak open, we'd all cring, just knowing there'd be more food coming along.
Well, I'm back home. It's still a bit tough adjusting to the time difference, but I made the _HUGE_ mistake of napping after I got back. The next morning, I was up at 2am and ready to go for the day! I'm almost back to EST, though. And boy do I miss the food!!
Regardless, posting w/in the PSU system on to this server is much, much easier and faster. I've uploaded pictures to that last post I did before I left.
But, it's harvest time here in central PA, so I'm going to go and see what I can fight off the squirrels for. I do hope to post at least 2 entries every day, though, until I finish our trip.
Thanks for your continued interest! Sara
Regardless, posting w/in the PSU system on to this server is much, much easier and faster. I've uploaded pictures to that last post I did before I left.
But, it's harvest time here in central PA, so I'm going to go and see what I can fight off the squirrels for. I do hope to post at least 2 entries every day, though, until I finish our trip.
Thanks for your continued interest! Sara
Well, my flight from Beijing leaves in four hours and I have to catch a cab in about an hour. So, this will have to be my last writing from China. I'll be back on-line in a day or two and will keep posting until I finish write-ups on all we saw. I'll also post some pictures on that last post I just wrote. I've just run out of time w/ this slow, slow, slow internet connection.
Hope you're enjoying our trip so far and I'll probably talk to many of you soon.
Sara
Hope you're enjoying our trip so far and I'll probably talk to many of you soon.
Sara
On our last day at Dalaoling, our hosts took us to several sites around the park. We started out the day checking out the highest point in the park. It's about 2005 meters, though it seems they may have changed it to 2008 meters, just for this year (???). It was a breathtaking site. The bus could only go to about 1958 meters, and our hosts gave us the option of hiking on to the top, but, because of "lack of time" noone but me wanted to go : (
Oh well. The sites were beautiful nonetheless.
We then spent a couple of hours with a little more data collection. This was a different site than where we had previously been taking data, probably about a mile or so away (I'll have to confirm that). We walked through a thicket of dense but short (about 4-5 feet tall) bamboo on our way to a slope that had many C. henryi, C. mollissima, and at least one C. seguinii.
After that, we drove down. And down. And down. And down. And on down this muddy, slightly trecherous road almost all the way to the bottom of the valley. At that point there is a small village. There we had lunch with a local farmer/hunter/innkeeper. It was a great meal. At the end, they both got dressed up in their best clothes to take a picture with us.
Our group then travelled on down the road to a point where the bus could go no further. At that point, we hoofed it further down the road and got to a trail that we learned would take us to some a beautiful waterfall. The waterfall was called "Tiger Roar Falls" or "Hu Shao Pu" in Chinese. It was a wonderful hike, thrilling at times, and well worth the site at the end.
After our hike, we went to a small chesntut orchard just up the road. The owner was having some trouble with early bur death and browning that was significantly hurting his productivity. It appeared to be a fungus, but none of us knew the exact cause. The problem also seemed to be affecting only one of the two cultivars he had planted there. The recommendation was to either use a fungicide or replace the trees with a less-susceptible cultivar.
Leaves of Chinese chestnut at top elevation for Dalaoling.
Lunch at the Farmers house. Note: that ain't soda he's pouring in to my glass. It's actually the local moonshine. Now, I'm of Irish heritage _and_ a proud West Virginian, but I just couldn't drink the stuff. If only they had aged it in some fine oak barrels.
Picture of our group with the farmer and his wife in front. Unfortunately, I didn't catch their names.
Beware of falling down, indeed!! Most of the bridges to Tiger Roar Falls were done in a very . . . local style.
Tiger Roar Falls. Of course this picture doesn't do it justice. But you can imagine why they call it the "Roar" part. And the "Falls" part. The Tiger part comes from the rock in the upper left-hand corner of the pic. Unfortunately, I didn't know that until after we started back, so I didn't get a good pic of it. Anyway, it looks kind of like the head of a tiger.
Our first visit to a Chinese chesntut orchard in China. The nuts are just about perfect for harvest at this orchard.
Oh well. The sites were beautiful nonetheless.
We then spent a couple of hours with a little more data collection. This was a different site than where we had previously been taking data, probably about a mile or so away (I'll have to confirm that). We walked through a thicket of dense but short (about 4-5 feet tall) bamboo on our way to a slope that had many C. henryi, C. mollissima, and at least one C. seguinii.
After that, we drove down. And down. And down. And down. And on down this muddy, slightly trecherous road almost all the way to the bottom of the valley. At that point there is a small village. There we had lunch with a local farmer/hunter/innkeeper. It was a great meal. At the end, they both got dressed up in their best clothes to take a picture with us.
Our group then travelled on down the road to a point where the bus could go no further. At that point, we hoofed it further down the road and got to a trail that we learned would take us to some a beautiful waterfall. The waterfall was called "Tiger Roar Falls" or "Hu Shao Pu" in Chinese. It was a wonderful hike, thrilling at times, and well worth the site at the end.
After our hike, we went to a small chesntut orchard just up the road. The owner was having some trouble with early bur death and browning that was significantly hurting his productivity. It appeared to be a fungus, but none of us knew the exact cause. The problem also seemed to be affecting only one of the two cultivars he had planted there. The recommendation was to either use a fungicide or replace the trees with a less-susceptible cultivar.
Leaves of Chinese chestnut at top elevation for Dalaoling.
Fred H. takes a picture of the highest point in Dalaoling. The Chinese chestnut tree is located behind us.
Another view from our vantage point. The highest point is up to the left of this picture.
Fred H. and Songlin get ready to take a height reading on a tree, probably a C. henryi. The furrowed trees along the path behind them are either chestnuts or local oaks that look much like chestnut oaks and/or sawtooth oaks.
Also at site 2. Doesn't this look like poison ivy? I could have sworn this was poison ivy. Our guides swore up and down, though, that it wasn't a poisonous plant. Still, I wasn't about to go near it. Though I didn't see him do it, I think Fred H. touched it. About a day later, sure enough, he had a rash/blisters on his hands that looked exactly like poison ivy. Just another plant that closely mimics what one finds in the forests of the eastern US.
Another view from our vantage point. The highest point is up to the left of this picture.
Fred H. and Songlin get ready to take a height reading on a tree, probably a C. henryi. The furrowed trees along the path behind them are either chestnuts or local oaks that look much like chestnut oaks and/or sawtooth oaks.
Also at site 2. Doesn't this look like poison ivy? I could have sworn this was poison ivy. Our guides swore up and down, though, that it wasn't a poisonous plant. Still, I wasn't about to go near it. Though I didn't see him do it, I think Fred H. touched it. About a day later, sure enough, he had a rash/blisters on his hands that looked exactly like poison ivy. Just another plant that closely mimics what one finds in the forests of the eastern US.
Lunch at the Farmers house. Note: that ain't soda he's pouring in to my glass. It's actually the local moonshine. Now, I'm of Irish heritage _and_ a proud West Virginian, but I just couldn't drink the stuff. If only they had aged it in some fine oak barrels.
Picture of our group with the farmer and his wife in front. Unfortunately, I didn't catch their names.
Beware of falling down, indeed!! Most of the bridges to Tiger Roar Falls were done in a very . . . local style.
Tiger Roar Falls. Of course this picture doesn't do it justice. But you can imagine why they call it the "Roar" part. And the "Falls" part. The Tiger part comes from the rock in the upper left-hand corner of the pic. Unfortunately, I didn't know that until after we started back, so I didn't get a good pic of it. Anyway, it looks kind of like the head of a tiger.
Our first visit to a Chinese chesntut orchard in China. The nuts are just about perfect for harvest at this orchard.
Our first site had so much just in chestnut, but there's a lot of other stuff to see around, too! I just wanted to give you all a little taste of what this site had to offer.
Wonderful signs. More to come.
Weird, red, parasitic, plant things. I think Paillet got the name of it.
Pigs ears with peppers. Mmmmm! Just like mom used to make. (But I joke. They're actually quite good!!).
The slopes of Dalaoling offer many chances to get your pants muddy. And squat toilets! In fact, that blue mat thing is underneath the shower. Pretty ingneous, huh? You can clean the toilet while you take a shower. The muddy pants are mine. I did that coming back down from Zehao's plot. I got the muddiest. I also got the wettest, mainly because I bit it at one of the stream crossings.
There are some of the cutest little mushrooms around. The vegetation here is quite lush and there is apparently a good lot of rainfall here. So there are lots of mushrooms all over the place.
This is a lot of pictures, so I'll post more in another post coming up. Call it "other features of Dalaoling, part er".
Wonderful signs. More to come.
Weird, red, parasitic, plant things. I think Paillet got the name of it.
Weird, purple, fungus stuff. It almost looks like velvet.
Pigs ears with peppers. Mmmmm! Just like mom used to make. (But I joke. They're actually quite good!!).
The slopes of Dalaoling offer many chances to get your pants muddy. And squat toilets! In fact, that blue mat thing is underneath the shower. Pretty ingneous, huh? You can clean the toilet while you take a shower. The muddy pants are mine. I did that coming back down from Zehao's plot. I got the muddiest. I also got the wettest, mainly because I bit it at one of the stream crossings.
What appears to be the juvenile form of those weird, red, parasitic plant things. Once I get the name, I'll post it. They appear primarily under the white pine-type trees that abound in the forests here. Once I get the scientific name of the pine, I'll post that, too.
There are some of the cutest little mushrooms around. The vegetation here is quite lush and there is apparently a good lot of rainfall here. So there are lots of mushrooms all over the place.
This is a lot of pictures, so I'll post more in another post coming up. Call it "other features of Dalaoling, part er".
This post is a bit out of chronological order, but this site is pretty important. Unfortunately, because of the distance and terrain required to get up to the site, we never got back up to collect data. Thankfully, Zehao has already logged much of the diameter and height information on all the trees on that plot.
While getting to know the site on the first day at Dalaoling, the whole scientific team made the trek up a very steep slope to observe chestnut trees up at Dr. Shen Zehao's plot. We climbed a good 1000 feet up to get to his site which was chosen because it was "flat". And this is true. It's probably the flattest piece of ground - perhaps in all of China - that hasn't been cultivated.
In any case, it was a fun and humid walk. And what we saw up on that bench was well worth it!! As we were still pretty new to the site and the three species, we still had a bit of trouble keying out the species we saw. Henryi was typically easy to key out - the leaf shape is very distinctive. But mollissima and seguinii are very much alike.
Once up there, we saw some very large trees. And then we started seeing trees that keyed out exactly as Castanea seguinii - according to two keys we had with us - the only difference being that they were over 80 feet tall! In the literature - and with everything I'd heard - the C. seguinii is often referred to as the "dwarf chestnut" and that it rarely reaches heights over 10, 12, or 15 meters (depending on the reference one uses).
But there were some very large chestnuts up there. In fact, the dominant tree in the canopy was either C. henryi or C. seguinii. Based on our observations, we did not see any C. mollissima at Zehao's plot. But with sizes > 20" dbh and most trees over 80feet in height, wonderful, straight form and no evidence of blight infection - not even suspicious lesions like we'd seen below on the road - this was a wonderful place to observe chesntut. And is also a site for us to note for continued observation and collection.
If you're interested in reading more about Zehao's plot, you can go to http://scholar.google.com. Then search for "Shen" and "Dalaoling" and you should find several articles about the site. The disadvantage is that they are mostly in Chinese. The advantage is that you can at least read the abstract in English.
Kim stands next to a large C. seguinii.
While getting to know the site on the first day at Dalaoling, the whole scientific team made the trek up a very steep slope to observe chestnut trees up at Dr. Shen Zehao's plot. We climbed a good 1000 feet up to get to his site which was chosen because it was "flat". And this is true. It's probably the flattest piece of ground - perhaps in all of China - that hasn't been cultivated.
In any case, it was a fun and humid walk. And what we saw up on that bench was well worth it!! As we were still pretty new to the site and the three species, we still had a bit of trouble keying out the species we saw. Henryi was typically easy to key out - the leaf shape is very distinctive. But mollissima and seguinii are very much alike.
Once up there, we saw some very large trees. And then we started seeing trees that keyed out exactly as Castanea seguinii - according to two keys we had with us - the only difference being that they were over 80 feet tall! In the literature - and with everything I'd heard - the C. seguinii is often referred to as the "dwarf chestnut" and that it rarely reaches heights over 10, 12, or 15 meters (depending on the reference one uses).
But there were some very large chestnuts up there. In fact, the dominant tree in the canopy was either C. henryi or C. seguinii. Based on our observations, we did not see any C. mollissima at Zehao's plot. But with sizes > 20" dbh and most trees over 80feet in height, wonderful, straight form and no evidence of blight infection - not even suspicious lesions like we'd seen below on the road - this was a wonderful place to observe chesntut. And is also a site for us to note for continued observation and collection.
If you're interested in reading more about Zehao's plot, you can go to http://scholar.google.com. Then search for "Shen" and "Dalaoling" and you should find several articles about the site. The disadvantage is that they are mostly in Chinese. The advantage is that you can at least read the abstract in English.
We basically followed a stream up to Dr. Shen's plot. There were some beautiful water features along the way.
The walk up was very humid. Steamy!
Dr. He Wei stands beside a beautiful chestnut. I don't remember if this was a henryi or segunii. Suffice to say most looked this good and large.
The walk up was very humid. Steamy!
Dr. He Wei stands beside a beautiful chestnut. I don't remember if this was a henryi or segunii. Suffice to say most looked this good and large.
Kim stands next to a large C. seguinii.
Zehao stands next to another C. seguinii individual.
