Why this ride
A 214 km round trip from Linping - roughly 3 h 02 in the saddle. On the way it passes Nanxun Section of Jiangnan Canal, The Retreat & Reflection Garden and back through Nanxun Section of Jiangnan Canal.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Jiaxing-Hangzhou Section of Jiangnan Canal and The Retreat & Reflection Garden
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 214 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 02
- 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. 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.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Jiaxing-Hangzhou Section of Jiangnan Canal is where the day begins. Next is Nanxun Section of Jiangnan Canal.
2. 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.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Nanxun Section of Jiangnan Canal comes up about 52 km into the recorded legs. Next is The Retreat & Reflection Garden.
3. The Retreat & Reflection Garden
The name says almost everything. Tuisi Garden, the Garden of Retreat and Reflection, was built in the 1880s in the water town of Tongli by an official named Ren Lansheng after he was dismissed from his post, and he called it after the old idea that a man out of office should withdraw and think about his faults. What he actually created was one of the most graceful small gardens in the region: pavilions and halls arranged around a pond as if they were floating on it, with rockeries, covered walkways and windows that frame views like paintings.
Read the complete The Retreat & Reflection Garden write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 107 km into the recorded legs you reach The Retreat & Reflection Garden. Next is back through Nanxun Section of Jiangnan Canal.
4. back through Nanxun Section of Jiangnan Canal
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Nanxun Section of Jiangnan Canal write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Nanxun Section of Jiangnan Canal, late in the day. Next is Jiaxing-Hangzhou Section of Jiangnan Canal.
5. Jiaxing-Hangzhou Section of Jiangnan Canal
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Jiaxing-Hangzhou Section of Jiangnan Canal write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Jiaxing-Hangzhou Section of Jiangnan Canal. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Jiaxing-Hangzhou Section of Jiangnan Canal to Nanxun Section of Jiangnan Canal
Jiaxing-Hangzhou 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 to The Retreat & Reflection Garden
Nanxun Section of Jiangnan Canal → The Retreat & Reflection Garden is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Retreat & Reflection Garden to back through Nanxun Section of Jiangnan Canal
The Retreat & Reflection Garden → back through Nanxun Section of Jiangnan Canal is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Nanxun Section of Jiangnan Canal to Jiaxing-Hangzhou Section of Jiangnan Canal
back through Nanxun Section of Jiangnan Canal → Jiaxing-Hangzhou Section of Jiangnan Canal is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.