10-Jul-2008 -- Story continues from 35°N 116°E.

Back in Chéngwǔ, we get a bus NW to the municipal capital, Hézé City (荷泽市). For a municipal capital, Hézé doesn't amount to much, although we're able to find an excellent value-for-money hotel in the Jiahe Huayuan Hotel, and later on, an excellent seafood restaurant. We pass up the opportunity to have our futures told by a couple of roadside fortune-tellers, even though, according to their advertising material, their services include not just telling one's fortune, but improving it as well.

At 8:45 a.m. the next morning, we are on a bus travelling west to Dōngmíng County (东明县). In Dōngmíng, we catch the 10 a.m. bus bound for Zhèngzhōu (郑州), capital of Hénán Province (河南省). We are not going that far, however, and get off at 35°0'11.2"N 114°58'45.6"E, about 5 km after passing through Sānchūnjí Town (三春集镇), and 1.92 km west of the confluence.

We set off on foot along a rough dirt track, passing a group of children resting on a small bridge, then through fields of peanuts, cotton, and sweet potato. The track eventually peters out, but we continue on towards the confluence through a long grove of trees next to a canal. The final 360 m are once again through fields, mainly corn and cotton. The confluence itself is in a cornfield.

Shortly after we arrive at the point, a local comes over to chat with us. His name is Mr Yáng (杨), and he tells us that the nearby village is called Yángzhàn (杨站村). We take the GPS photo and the shots facing north, south, east and west, then another photo of Mr Yáng with me.

Story continues at 36°N 114°E.