Why this ride
324 km from Xiamen to Xiamen, about 4 h 44 of riding. The stops in between: Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yu, Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks, Anping Bridge and The Old City. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Kulangsu and The Old City
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 324 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 44
- 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. 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. 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 Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks.
3. Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks
In the Song and Yuan centuries, roughly a thousand years ago, Quanzhou on the coast of Fujian was one of the busiest ports on the planet. Arab, Persian, Indian and Southeast Asian merchants lived here, ships loaded silk, porcelain and tea for the Indian Ocean, and Marco Polo, who knew it as Zayton, described a harbour crowded with vessels. The Zhenwu Temple stands on a small rise by the estuary of the Jin river, where officials once made sacrifices to the god of the sea before the fleets sailed, and the old docks along the shore nearby are part of the World Heritage Site inscribed in 2021 as Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China.
Read the complete Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 96 km into the recorded legs you reach Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks. Next is Anping Bridge.
4. Anping Bridge
Five li, that is the old name for it, because the Anping Bridge was reckoned to be five li long, a little over two kilometres, which made it the longest bridge in China for centuries and the longest beam bridge of its kind anywhere in the medieval world. It crosses what used to be a tidal inlet at Anhai, in Jinjiang county south of Quanzhou, and it was begun in the twelfth century under the Southern Song, when this coast was making its money from trade with Arabia, India and Southeast Asia. Local merchants and monks put up much of the cost, and the work went on for the better part of two decades.
Read the complete Anping Bridge write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Anping Bridge, about halfway. Next is The Old City.
5. The Old City
Quanzhou was one of the greatest ports in the world, though few outsiders have heard of it. In the Song and Yuan dynasties, between the tenth and the fourteenth centuries, ships from Arabia, India, Persia and Southeast Asia loaded silk, porcelain and tea here, and Marco Polo, who called it Zaiton, claimed that for every ship of pepper that reached Alexandria, a hundred reached this harbour. The word satin may even come from Zaiton. In 2021, UNESCO listed the remains of this maritime city as Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China.
Read the complete The Old City write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Old City sits at 171 km, about halfway. Next is back through Anping Bridge.
6. back through Anping Bridge
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Anping Bridge write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Anping Bridge comes up about 198 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks.
7. back through Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 230 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks. Next is back through Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yu.
8. 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, late in the day. Next is Kulangsu.
9. 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
The route ends here after 324 km.
Leg by leg
Kulangsu to Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yu
Kulangsu → Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yu is 64 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yu to Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks
Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yu → Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks to Anping Bridge
Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks → Anping Bridge is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Anping Bridge to The Old City
Anping Bridge → The Old City is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Old City to back through Anping Bridge
The Old City → back through Anping Bridge is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Anping Bridge to back through Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks
back through Anping Bridge → back through Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks to back through Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yu
back through Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks → back through Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yu is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yu to Kulangsu
back through Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yu → Kulangsu is 58 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Kulangsu and Luoyang Bridge · 259 km
- Kulangsu and Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks · 238 km