Why this ride
109 km from Quanzhou to Quanzhou, about 1 h 49 of riding. It goes by way of Shihu Dock, Statue of Mani in Cao'an Temple and back through Shihu Dock. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Islamic Tombs and Statue of Mani in Cao'an Temple
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 109 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 49
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Islamic Tombs
Quanzhou is easy to underestimate. Today it is a busy, rather industrial Fujian city, but a thousand years ago it was Zayton, one of the busiest ports in the world, and merchants from Persia and Arabia settled here to trade silk, ceramics and spices. The two Islamic tombs sit on a hill east of the centre, close enough to the city, about four kilometres, that the neighbourhood is a mix of apartment blocks and old stonework.
Read the complete Islamic Tombs write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Islamic Tombs is where the day begins. Next is Shihu Dock.
2. Shihu Dock
In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, Quanzhou was one of the busiest ports in the world. Arab, Persian, Indian and Italian merchants lived in the city, which Marco Polo knew as Zayton, and ships loaded with silk, porcelain and tea left for the Indian Ocean. The port stood on the Fujian coast of southern China, at the mouth of the Jin river, and the whole system of temples, mosques, bridges, docks and kiln sites was listed by UNESCO in 2021 as Quanzhou, Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China.
Read the complete Shihu Dock write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Shihu Dock comes up about 29 km into the recorded legs. Next is Statue of Mani in Cao'an Temple.
3. Statue of Mani in Cao'an Temple
Hidden in the hills behind the coast of Fujian is a small stone temple with a figure that should not exist. Cao'an is the last surviving Manichaean temple in the world, and its main statue shows Mani, the third-century Persian prophet who founded a religion that once stretched from Spain to China, in the form of a serene Buddha-like figure with long white hair and eyebrows. It was carved in the fourteenth century, during the Yuan dynasty, from a single piece of local stone, and its identity was recognised only in the twentieth century, when scholars matched it with texts.
Read the complete Statue of Mani in Cao'an Temple write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 54 km into the recorded legs you reach Statue of Mani in Cao'an Temple. Next is back through Shihu Dock.
4. back through Shihu Dock
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Shihu Dock write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Shihu Dock, late in the day. Next is Islamic Tombs.
5. Islamic Tombs
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Islamic Tombs write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Islamic Tombs. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Islamic Tombs to Shihu Dock
Islamic Tombs → Shihu Dock is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Shihu Dock to Statue of Mani in Cao'an Temple
Shihu Dock → Statue of Mani in Cao'an Temple is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Statue of Mani in Cao'an Temple to back through Shihu Dock
Statue of Mani in Cao'an Temple → back through Shihu Dock is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Shihu Dock to Islamic Tombs
back through Shihu Dock → Islamic Tombs is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.