CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
A 329 km round trip from Changzhou - roughly 4 h 24 in the saddle. On the way it passes Classical Gardens of Suzhou, Nanxun Section of Jiangnan Canal and back through Classical Gardens of Suzhou. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
Changzhou does not appear on many bucket lists, which is a pity, because it holds a living stretch of the Grand Canal, the longest man-made waterway in the world. The canal here is the Jiangnan section, the southern part that links the Yangtze with Hangzhou, and it runs right through the city, past old lanes, stone bridges and modern towers. UNESCO added the Grand Canal to its list in 2014, and Changzhou's urban section is one of the segments that make up the listing.
Read the complete Changzhou City Section of Jiangnan Canal write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Changzhou City Section of Jiangnan Canal is where the day begins. Next is Classical Gardens of Suzhou.
A classical Chinese garden is a whole landscape squeezed into a courtyard: rocks stand in for mountains, ponds for lakes, and a winding covered walkway reveals one framed view after another, each window cut in a different shape. Suzhou, a canal city west of Shanghai, perfected the art over centuries, as scholars, officials and merchants built private retreats behind high white walls. Nine of its gardens are listed by UNESCO as the Classical Gardens of Suzhou, among them the Humble Administrator's Garden, the Lingering Garden and the tiny, exquisite Master-of-Nets Garden, and the Retreat and Reflection Garden in the water town of Tongli.
Read the complete Classical Gardens of Suzhou write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Classical Gardens of Suzhou comes up about 90 km into the recorded legs. Next is Nanxun Section of Jiangnan Canal.
Nanxun is one of the water towns of the Yangtze delta, south of Lake Tai, where life has revolved around canals for more than a thousand years. In the nineteenth century, it became immensely rich through the silk trade, and its merchant families, known by nicknames like the four elephants and the eight bulls, built mansions that mixed Chinese courtyards with European columns, stained glass and Western-style furniture, an unusual blend you will not find in many other water towns. The canal running through the town is part of the Grand Canal, the immense waterway linking Beijing with Hangzhou, which UNESCO listed in 2014.
Read the complete Nanxun Section of Jiangnan Canal write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 164 km into the recorded legs you reach Nanxun Section of Jiangnan Canal. Next is back through Classical Gardens of Suzhou.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Classical Gardens of Suzhou write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Classical Gardens of Suzhou, late in the day. Next is Changzhou City Section of Jiangnan Canal.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Changzhou City Section of Jiangnan Canal write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Changzhou City Section of Jiangnan Canal. That is the ride.
Changzhou City Section of Jiangnan Canal → Classical Gardens of Suzhou is 90 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Classical Gardens of Suzhou → Nanxun Section of Jiangnan Canal is 74 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Nanxun Section of Jiangnan Canal → back through Classical Gardens of Suzhou is 74 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Classical Gardens of Suzhou → Changzhou City Section of Jiangnan Canal is 91 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.