07-May-2005 -- 34 N – 119 E Jiangsu (江苏), China

Visit Date: May 7, 2005

This is the third of six confluence points we hunted in Jiangsu during the weekend of May 1st holiday week.

After our visit to 34N 120E, we were going to call it the day and go to Lien Yun Gon, the costal town in Northern Jiangsu which is close to our next objective – 35N 119E. The route we were taking required us to go east first before heading north.

About an hour into the drive, Ray noticed that 34N 119E actually was within sticking distance – about 45 km straight line distance. The only problem was that, it was already 5.45 pm, and it could be near dark by the time we reach this point.

It took less than a minute for us to decide to go further west to go after the unplanned, and the third confluence point of the day.

Fortunately a good part of the remaining drive was on expressway, and we were able to push the speed to 160 km/hr. The last 18 km off the expressway was a straight line heading toward the point. We reached the nearest point from the road at 6.30 pm with the confluence 330 meters to our left.

We followed a small dirt road which headed toward a village, and we jump out of the car when it was about 20 meters away. At which point, it was getting pretty dark.

Heading toward the zero point, we came up to the back side of a school building, and the exact spot appears to be either inside the building or just on the other side. We quickly run to the front entrance of the school, and very glad that the door was wide open, even though this is a holiday period.

We found the zero point right at the entrance to the classroom for the 6th grade. Based on the accuracy of 7 meters, this confluence point could be in the class room, or just right outside the classroom.

The principle of the elementary school, Mr. Zhou and his wife were the only people still in school. We explained that the grade 6 classroom is where the crossing point latitude 34N and longitude 119E, perhaps it is a place of special luck. Mr. Zhou commented that, the student of that grade did very well is entrance examination to high school last year.

The name of the school is Lu Bei Elementary school. It is part of the Tong Gou Township within Su Yang County.

As lighting was getting dim, it was rather difficult in getting a good picture of the GPS. We took a few photos at school entrance, and said goodbye to Principle Zhou and his wife. We left the school at 7 pm, and it was just about totally dark.

Needless to say, the extra hunt of the day made the hunting party rather excited. We wondered how many other confluence points also located in a school.

The only downside of line hunting late in the day was the fact that we have to drive at night in unfamiliar areas. It took almost an hour before we reached the main expressway.

We decided to go to a smaller town further north – Gong Yu city – which will put us much closer our next objective (35N 119E). We reached our destination a little after 9 pm.

A three confluence points day! Thanks to our skilled driver Mr. Zhang who knew all the major roadway of Jiangsu like the back of his hand.

Rating of this hunt:

Degree of Challenge: 1 – a drive-up (Scale: 1= very easy - drive to the point; to 5= a death march – glad it is over)

Scenery: 3– a rural elementary school (Scale: 1= not interesting at all; 5= take your breath away)

Culture-social factors: 2–rural central Jiangsu farming community (Scale: 1=dull; 5= most stimulating)