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.
From Mudu it runs 280 km to Mudu; allow about 3 h 52 of riding. The stops in between: Suzhou Section of Jiangnan Canal, Nanxun Section of Jiangnan Canal, Jiaxing-Hangzhou Section of Jiangnan Canal and back through Nanxun Section of Jiangnan Canal. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
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 is where the day begins. Next is Suzhou Section of Jiangnan Canal.
The Grand Canal is the longest artificial waterway in the world, running from Beijing to Hangzhou, and the Jiangnan section through Suzhou is one of its most storied stretches. Here, the canal winds through a landscape of water towns, rice fields and lakes, past ancient bridges, temples and gardens. It is part of the World Heritage site that recognises the canal as one of the greatest engineering achievements of the pre-industrial world.
Read the complete Suzhou Section of Jiangnan Canal write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Suzhou Section of Jiangnan Canal comes up about 34 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 86 km into the recorded legs you reach Nanxun Section of Jiangnan Canal. Next is Jiaxing-Hangzhou Section of Jiangnan Canal.
The Grand Canal of China is the longest artificial waterway in the world, a chain of canals and rivers linking Beijing with Hangzhou that was begun in sections well over two thousand years ago and unified under the Sui dynasty in the seventh century. Its southernmost stretch, the Jiangnan Canal, crosses the flat, watery plain between Jiaxing and Hangzhou, and this section is part of the UNESCO World Heritage site. Grain, silk and salt moved north along it for centuries, and the towns that line its banks grew rich on that traffic.
Read the complete Jiaxing-Hangzhou Section of Jiangnan Canal write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Jiaxing-Hangzhou Section of Jiangnan Canal, about halfway. Next is back through Nanxun Section of Jiangnan Canal.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Nanxun Section of Jiangnan Canal write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Nanxun Section of Jiangnan Canal sits at 184 km, about halfway. Next is back through Suzhou Section of Jiangnan Canal.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Suzhou Section of Jiangnan Canal write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Suzhou Section of Jiangnan Canal comes up about 247 km into the recorded legs. Next is 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.
Classical Gardens of Suzhou closes the day.
Classical Gardens of Suzhou → Suzhou Section of Jiangnan Canal is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Suzhou Section of Jiangnan Canal → Nanxun Section of Jiangnan Canal is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Nanxun Section of Jiangnan Canal → Jiaxing-Hangzhou Section of Jiangnan Canal is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Jiaxing-Hangzhou Section of Jiangnan Canal → back through Nanxun Section of Jiangnan Canal is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Nanxun Section of Jiangnan Canal → back through Suzhou Section of Jiangnan Canal is 53 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Suzhou Section of Jiangnan Canal → Classical Gardens of Suzhou is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.