Anping Bridge and Site of Shunji Bridge

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Anping Bridge

   Five li, that is the old name for it, because the Anping Bridge was reckoned to be five li long, a little over two kilometres, which made it the longest bridge in China for centuries and the longest beam bridge of its kind anywhere in the medieval world. It crosses what used to be a tidal inlet at Anhai, in Jinjiang county south of Quanzhou, and it was begun in the twelfth century under the Southern Song, when this coast was making its money from trade with Arabia, India and Southeast Asia. Local merchants and monks put up much of the cost, and the work went on for the better part of two decades.

   Read the complete Anping Bridge write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Anping Bridge is where the day begins. Next is Sites of Cizao Kilns.

2. 2. Sites of Cizao Kilns

   A thousand years ago, Quanzhou was one of the greatest ports in the world, the place Marco Polo called Zaitun, where ships from Persia, Arabia, India and Southeast Asia came to trade for silk, tea and porcelain. The ceramics that filled those ships were made in kilns in the hills around the city, and the Cizao kilns, near Jinjiang, were among the most important. Long dragon kilns, built up the slopes of the hills, were fired with wood, producing huge quantities of pottery for export. Shards from Cizao have been found across Asia and as far away as East Africa. Since 2021 the kiln sites have been part of the UNESCO World Heritage site of Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China.

   Read the complete Sites of Cizao Kilns write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Sites of Cizao Kilns comes up about 24 km into the recorded legs. Next is Site of Shunji Bridge.

3. 3. Site of Shunji Bridge

   The bridges of Quanzhou were as astonishing as its port. In the Song dynasty, when the city grew rich on trade with Arabia, India and South-East Asia, its builders spanned the estuaries with long stone bridges set on huge foundations of boulders and oyster shells, and some of them are still standing. The Shunji Bridge, whose site is on our list, belongs to this tradition, and what remains is a place beside the river where engineers once solved a problem that seemed impossible: how to build a stone bridge across a tidal estuary with strong currents.

   Read the complete Site of Shunji Bridge write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 43 km into the recorded legs you reach Site of Shunji Bridge. Next is back through Sites of Cizao Kilns.

4. 4. back through Sites of Cizao Kilns

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Sites of Cizao Kilns write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Sites of Cizao Kilns, late in the day. Next is Anping Bridge.

5. 5. Anping Bridge

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Anping Bridge write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Anping Bridge. That is the ride.