Kulangsu and Luoyang Bridge

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Kulangsu

   Kulangsu, or Gulangyu, is a small island across a narrow strait from the city of Xiamen, and the first thing to know is that you will have to leave your motorcycle behind: no motor vehicles are allowed on the island apart from a few electric service carts. You get there by ferry, and that is part of the charm. Once on the island, the noise of the city disappears, replaced by the sound of footsteps on narrow lanes, birdsong and, quite often, piano music drifting from an open window. Kulangsu is known as the island of pianos, with a long tradition of music and a piano museum.

   Read the complete Kulangsu write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Kulangsu is where the day begins. Next is Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yu.

2. 2. Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yu

   Medieval travellers called it Zaitun, and to Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta it was one of the greatest ports in the world. Quanzhou, on the coast of Fujian facing Taiwan, flourished under the Song and Yuan dynasties as a hub of maritime trade, where Arab, Persian, Indian and Southeast Asian merchants lived alongside Chinese traders, and ships left laden with silk and porcelain. In 2021 UNESCO inscribed a group of sites as Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China, including temples, mosques, tombs, kilns, bridges and docks that together tell the story of this cosmopolitan city.

   Read the complete Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yu write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yu comes up about 64 km into the recorded legs. Next is Wanshou Pagoda.

3. 3. Wanshou Pagoda

   On a hill above the coast south of Quanzhou, in China's Fujian province, a slender stone pagoda has watched the sea for some nine centuries. The Wanshou Pagoda on Baogai mountain, near the town of Shishi, was built in the Southern Song dynasty and served as a landmark for sailors approaching the port of Quanzhou, then one of the busiest harbours in the world. Locals call it the Aunt Pagoda, after a legend that tells of a woman who climbed the hill every day to wait for her husband to return from the sea.

   Read the complete Wanshou Pagoda write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 92 km into the recorded legs you reach Wanshou Pagoda. Next is Luoyang Bridge.

4. 4. Luoyang Bridge

   The Luoyang Bridge, also called the Wanan Bridge, spans the Luoyang River in Quanzhou prefecture, Fujian, a few kilometres from where the river meets the sea. It was built in the eleventh century, in the Northern Song dynasty, under the direction of Cai Xiang, the local governor and a noted calligrapher. It is a long stone beam bridge, with huge granite slabs laid across stone piers shaped like boat prows, so that the current is split rather than resisted. It was a real engineering achievement, because the estuary has strong tides, and the builders used an unusual technique: oysters were encouraged to grow on the piers and cement them to the foundation, a living mortar that strengthened the structure over the years.

   Read the complete Luoyang Bridge write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Luoyang Bridge, about halfway. Next is back through Wanshou Pagoda.

5. 5. back through Wanshou Pagoda

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Wanshou Pagoda write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Wanshou Pagoda sits at 175 km, about halfway. Next is back through Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yu.

6. 6. back through Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yu

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yu write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yu comes up about 201 km into the recorded legs. Next is Kulangsu.

7. 7. Kulangsu

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Kulangsu write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Kulangsu closes the day.