Why this ride
373 km from Quanzhou to Quanzhou, about 5 h 15 of riding. The stops in between: Sites of Dehua Kilns, Xiacaopu Iron Production Site of Qingyang and back through Sites of Dehua Kilns. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Islamic Tombs and Xiacaopu Iron Production Site of Qingyang
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 373 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 15
- 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 Sites of Dehua Kilns.
2. Sites of Dehua Kilns
Dehua, a county in the mountains of Fujian province, in south-eastern China, has been making porcelain for over a thousand years. Its white porcelain, known in the West as blanc de Chine, is famous for its pure, creamy white colour and its fine figures, especially statues of Guanyin, the goddess of mercy, and other Buddhist and Taoist figures. The ancient kiln sites of Dehua, including long dragon kilns built on hillsides, are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China, inscribed in 2021.
Read the complete Sites of Dehua Kilns write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Sites of Dehua Kilns comes up about 107 km into the recorded legs. Next is Xiacaopu Iron Production Site of Qingyang.
3. Xiacaopu Iron Production Site of Qingyang
In the green hills of Anxi county, inland from the port city of Quanzhou in Fujian, the Xiacaopu site preserves the remains of an iron industry that flourished during the Song and Yuan dynasties, roughly from the tenth to the fourteenth centuries. Archaeologists found furnaces, slag heaps, ore-roasting pits and workshops on a hillside, evidence of large-scale production. The iron produced here was shipped down the rivers to Quanzhou and exported to Southeast Asia and beyond, and that is why the site is part of the World Heritage listing of Quanzhou, Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China, inscribed in 2021. At that time, Quanzhou was one of the largest ports in the world, visited by Arab, Persian and Indian merchants, and described by Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta.
Read the complete Xiacaopu Iron Production Site of Qingyang write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 183 km into the recorded legs you reach Xiacaopu Iron Production Site of Qingyang. Next is back through Sites of Dehua Kilns.
4. back through Sites of Dehua Kilns
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Sites of Dehua Kilns write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Sites of Dehua Kilns, 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 Sites of Dehua Kilns
Islamic Tombs → Sites of Dehua Kilns is 107 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Sites of Dehua Kilns to Xiacaopu Iron Production Site of Qingyang
Sites of Dehua Kilns → Xiacaopu Iron Production Site of Qingyang is 76 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Xiacaopu Iron Production Site of Qingyang to back through Sites of Dehua Kilns
Xiacaopu Iron Production Site of Qingyang → back through Sites of Dehua Kilns is 82 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Sites of Dehua Kilns to Islamic Tombs
back through Sites of Dehua Kilns → Islamic Tombs is 108 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.