26-Jul-2015 -- This is the 15^th out of 18 reports of confluence visits while cycling from Kashgar (喀什) to Xī'ān (西安). I cycled through the Chinese provinces of Xīnjiāng, Qīnghǎi, Gānsù, and Shǎnxī, 3600 km in 25 days. The story starts from 39°N 76°E. The previous report is 34°N 104°E.

In the morning, I started cycling from the remote mountain village Nányáng (南阳镇). After a couple ascends and descends I reached the village Tàitáng (太塘乡) during the heat of the day (35° C). Tàitáng, which is 2.5 km south of the confluence, had market day.

I continued cycling up a valley over a concrete slab road (900 m) followed by a gravel track (170 m). I hid my bicycle under a bridge and planned to climb up a small canyon. But there was a hut and people. I didn’t want to disturb their privacy so I searched for another way to climb up. To my surprise, I found a footpath that I conveniently followed in serpentines up to 20 m to the confluence point.

The confluence is on a steep mountain grade with a cover of trees, bushes, flowers and high grass.

After the visit I continued cycling eastwards. Again I had to cycle more than 200 km in order to cover the beeline distance of 92 km to the next confluence further east. This is due to the rugged mountain terrain in southern Gānsù. I reached the city Lǐxiàn (礼县) in the evening, but cycled an hour further after dinner to spent the night in Chángdào (长道镇).

CP Visit Details:

• Distance to the road: 900 m
• Distance to a track: 170 m
• Walking distance: 170 m
• Distance of bicycle parking: 190 m
• Time to reach the CP from the track: 5 minutes
• Time at the CP: 1:56 PM
• Measured height: 1753 m
• Minimal distance according to GPS: 1 m
• Position accuracy: 9 m
• Topography: steep grade, mountainous
• Vegetation: trees, bushes, meadow with flowers and grass
• Weather: clear sky, 35° C (felt temperature)
• Given Name: The Hot Market Confluence

The story continues at 34°N 106°E.