The plains of eastern Henan and northern Anhui are among the flattest and most densely farmed in the world, a patchwork of wheat, maize and villages, strung together by poplar-lined lanes and straight roads. This was the heartland of old China, and the Grand Canal ran through it. The section here, the Liuzi canal site, belongs to the Tongji Canal, built in the Sui dynasty in the early seventh century to link the Yellow River with the Huai and eventually the Yangtze. It was dug by labour on a vast scale and became the main artery for grain, taxes and troops moving between north and south for several hundred years.
The Grand Canal as a whole is a staggering thing, almost eighteen hundred kilometres of waterway from Beijing to Hangzhou, assembled from many sections built over more than a thousand years, and UNESCO listed it in 2014. The Tongji Canal fell out of use after the Yellow River, which has a habit of shifting its course and flooding, buried it in silt, and archaeologists have since excavated sections to find the old banks, wharves and even wrecked boats. At a site like this one, you see a low dip in the field, an excavated bank, a display board and a view across farmland, and if you use your imagination you can hear the barges.
The roads in this region are straight, flat and busy, running between villages that seem to blend into one another. Trucks, tractors and three-wheeled carts share the carriageway, and local driving is a game that requires attention. In wheat harvest, around early June, grain is spread to dry on the road itself, and in autumn, burning of crop residue can produce smoke. Scenery is rural China at close quarters, with old men on benches, children on bicycles and a good many dogs.
Suixi, about eighteen kilometres away with seventy-four thousand people, has fuel, simple restaurants and hotels. The local food is noodles, steamed buns and lamb soup, and tea is served strong. Foreign riders in China face strict rules about licences and permits, so arrange everything in advance. Spring and autumn are the best times, with clear air and mild temperatures, while summer is hot, humid and stormy, and winter is cold and dusty.