Beijing Central Axis: A Building Ensemble and Western Qing Tombs

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Beijing Central Axis: A Building Ensemble

   A line runs through Beijing, and you can ride beside it for nearly eight kilometres, from the Yongding Gate in the south to the Bell and Drum Towers in the north. It is the central axis of the old city, and everything of importance in imperial Beijing was arranged along it or symmetrically on either side. The Forbidden City sits at its heart, with the great halls of the emperors, and the axis passes through Tiananmen, the Gate of Heavenly Peace, the artificial hill of Jingshan Park, and the old temple precincts. UNESCO listed the axis in 2024.

   Read the complete Beijing Central Axis: A Building Ensemble write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Beijing Central Axis: A Building Ensemble is where the day begins. Next is Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian.

2. 2. Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian

   In the 1920s and 1930s, excavations in the limestone caves of Dragon Bone Hill at Zhoukoudian, south-west of Beijing, uncovered the remains of early humans who lived here hundreds of thousands of years ago. They became known as Peking Man, a population of Homo erectus, and in 1929 the Chinese archaeologist Pei Wenzhong found a nearly complete skull. The fossils caused a sensation, offering evidence of early humans in Asia and their use of fire. Then, in 1941, during the Japanese occupation, the original bones were packed for shipment to the United States and vanished; their fate remains one of the great mysteries of archaeology. The site is listed by UNESCO, and a museum displays casts and later finds.

   Read the complete Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian comes up about 55 km into the recorded legs. Next is Western Qing Tombs.

3. 3. Western Qing Tombs

   Ninety minutes from Beijing, where the North China Plain runs into the Taihang mountains, a line of tombs lies in a landscape of old pines. These are the Western Qing Tombs, in Yi County of Hebei province, the burial ground of four Qing emperors, including Yongzheng, Jiaqing, Daoguang and Guangxu, along with a crowd of empresses, concubines and princes. The Qing had a second great cemetery, the Eastern Tombs, on the other side of Beijing, and the two were laid out according to feng shui principles with hills behind and open ground in front.

   Read the complete Western Qing Tombs write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 148 km into the recorded legs you reach Western Qing Tombs. Next is back through Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian.

4. 4. back through Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian, late in the day. Next is Beijing Central Axis: A Building Ensemble.

5. 5. Beijing Central Axis: A Building Ensemble

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Beijing Central Axis: A Building Ensemble write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Beijing Central Axis: A Building Ensemble. That is the ride.