17-Jul-2008 -- Story continues from 36°N 119°E.

We don't have to wait long for a bus east to Zhūchéng City. Once in Zhūchéng, we get another bus SE to Jiāonán City (胶南市), departing at 3:20 p.m., and arriving shortly after 4:30 p.m.

In Jiāonán, we just miss the next bus north to Jiāozhōu City (胶州市), and have to wait 25 minutes for the next one. The bus departs at 5 p.m., but goes excruciatingly slowly, crawling along at about two miles an hour, trawling for passengers. We wonder if we'll have time to get to the confluence while it's still daylight.

When we finally reach the outskirts of Jiāonán, and the driver decides to get moving, he starts driving like a complete maniac, spending most of the time on the wrong side of the highway, playing chicken with the oncoming traffic, and we truly fear for our lives. We are extremely relieved when we reach our turnoff at 36°0'5.6"N 119°59'15.2"E, and ask the driver to stop and let us off. He is surprised that we want to get off here.

The confluence is 1.13 km east of the main road. It's a simple, pleasant walk in the cool of the early evening, along a side road, then up into hillside fields of corn, peanuts, and sweet potato. The confluence is located in a small patch of sloping, uncultivated land amid the crops.

As I'm taking the photos of the GPS and the views facing north, south, east and west, a farmer is busy spraying bug killer in a field of peanuts behind me. Just to the north of the confluence, but obscured by the trees, is a small stone and brick shed. Back to the west, near the main road, is some sort of factory, sporting interesting exhaust vents from the eastern extremities of its three main buildings.

Story continues at 37°N 122°E.