Huishan Temple and Site of Shihao Section of Xiaohan Ancient

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Huishan Temple

   Dengfeng lies below Mount Song, one of the five sacred mountains of China, and the temples scattered at its foot make up one of the densest clusters of historic buildings in Henan. Huishan Temple is part of that cluster, and it is the kind of place that most visitors drive straight past on the way to the Shaolin monastery, which is a pity. It sits quietly on the edge of Songyang, a town of sixty thousand people only five kilometres away, and it rewards anyone who stops to look.

   Read the complete Huishan Temple write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Huishan Temple is where the day begins. Next is Longmen Grottoes.

2. 2. Longmen Grottoes

   South of Luoyang, the river Yi cuts through a narrow gap between two limestone hills, and for about a kilometre the cliffs on both sides are honeycombed with caves, niches and carvings. Over around four centuries, starting in the late fifth century under the Northern Wei dynasty and continuing through the Tang, Buddhist sculptors carved tens of thousands of statues into the rock, from tiny figures a few centimetres high to colossal Buddhas. The Longmen Grottoes were listed by UNESCO in 2000 and are among the finest examples of Chinese Buddhist art.

   Read the complete Longmen Grottoes write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Longmen Grottoes comes up about 72 km into the recorded legs. Next is Site of Shihao Section of Xiaohan Ancient.

3. 3. Site of Shihao Section of Xiaohan Ancient

   The Silk Road is often imagined as a line across a desert, but in places it was a road cut into rock. The Xiaohan ancient road runs through the mountains of Henan province, linking Luoyang, the Han and Tang capital, with the west through the narrow pass at Hangu. The Shihao section is a stretch of the road that survives in the loess hills, with ruts cut into the stone by wheels. UNESCO listed it as part of the Silk Roads network in 2014.

   Read the complete Site of Shihao Section of Xiaohan Ancient write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 192 km into the recorded legs you reach Site of Shihao Section of Xiaohan Ancient. Next is back through Longmen Grottoes.

4. 4. back through Longmen Grottoes

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Longmen Grottoes write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Longmen Grottoes, late in the day. Next is Huishan Temple.

5. 5. Huishan Temple

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Huishan Temple write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Huishan Temple. That is the ride.