08-May-2005 -- 33 N – 119 E Jiangsu (江苏), China

Visit Date: May 8, 2005

This is the last of six confluence points we hunted in Jiangsu during a 2-day line-hunting spree near the end of the May 1st holiday period.

After our second hunt of the day - 34N 119E – we headed south for the last objective of the day – the last unvisited land-based confluence point in Jiangsu.

After one hour of driving, we stopped at place famous for crayfish for a late lunch recommend by our driver Mr. Zhang. It just so happen that we ran into some local folks whom Button used to work with, and they insisted on paying the bill.

Afterward lunch, we reached Jin-Hu County in about 30 minutes, and this confluence point located about 5 km south of the county capital. We were able to drive to 400 meters from the point. We reached the ground zero at 3.30pm.

This confluence point located about 40 meters from a little village in the wheat field. With the rapid economic and industry development in costal area of China, now there are several modern factories within a kilometer of this previously very rural village named Zen-Zhong. It is part of Li-Chen Township within Jin-Hu (Golden Lake) County.

A chat with the villagers found out that the canal in front of the village now become so polluted even the ground water from their water wells are now affected. On our way out of village, we noted the dark and deadly looking water in the canal. An unfortunate consequence of rapid economic development.

After this last hunt, we headed back toward Nanjing. We reached Nanjing airport at 6.15 pm, and Ray got on an 8 pm flight for Beijing. Button and Haitau returned home in Nanjing city.

The whirlwind line-hunting trip took a total of 36 hours. What made it feasible to visit 6 points has to do with the fact that, Jiangsu is the most developed province of China with an impressive network of expressways. Moreover, it is also a densely populated province such there are many villages hence dense local roads.

All 6 points we were able to reach within 500 meters by car, and all of them were within 300 meters from a village. In four cases, we were able to meet the land owners of the confluence point. Two of the points located in the residential part of villages (one was in a school – 34N 119E)

This weekend will be remembered by us as the power line-hunting trip of Jiangsu. We do hope to visit the 32N 120E in the future – a challenging point actually located in Yangtze River that was visited by two “swimmers” in 2004.

Rating of this hunt:

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

Scenery: 2– wheat field near a village (Scale: 1= not interesting at all; 5= take your breath away)

Culture-social factors: 3– pleasant rural Jiangsu farming community (Scale: 1=dull; 5= most stimulating)