22-Jul-2008 -- Story continues from 37°N 119°E.

We catch a minivan back to Hóuzhèn, then a bus SW to Shòuguāng. We arrive in Shòuguāng just in time to hop onto a Zībó City (淄博市) bus as it's leaving the station. It's now 12 noon, and we are hopeful of achieving a second confluence today. However, the bus immediately starts a slow crawl through the streets of Shòuguāng, trawling for passengers - the bane of confluence hunters eager to get going!

We eventually arrive in Zībó - also known as Zhāngdiàn (张店区) - at 2 p.m. It then takes us half an hour of walking backwards and forwards, between three different bus stations, before finally finding the bus north to Tiánzhuāng Town (田庄镇). Unlike other big cities we've visited on this trip, we find Zībó to be incredibly disorganised when it comes to bus stations.

Our bus departs (slowly) at 2:40 p.m. When we reach Tiánzhuāng, we are able to get off the bus just 750 m SW of the confluence. From here, we turn down a dirt side street, and it's an easy walk through a residential area, passing by people relaxing out front of their ornate doorways, to get to the wheat-cum-cornfield in which the confluence is located.

The corn plants at the confluence are fairly mature - as tall as me. After taking the GPS shot, I need to hold the camera up above my head in order to get reasonable views to the north, south, east and west.

Story continues at 38°N 118°E.