Linqing Section of Huitong Canal and Nanwang Complex

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Linqing Section of Huitong Canal

   Linqing is where the Grand Canal still carries the memory of an empire, and its bricks may be the best evidence. The town lies in western Shandong, on the flat plain of north China, at the meeting of the Wei river and the Huitong Canal, a stretch of the great waterway dug in 1411 under the Ming emperor Yongle to carry grain from the Yangtze south to the new capital at Beijing. It was one of the busiest places on the route, a customs post and transfer point where goods changed boats, and for centuries it was one of the richest towns on the plain.

   Read the complete Linqing Section of Huitong Canal write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Linqing Section of Huitong Canal is where the day begins. Next is Yanggu Section of Huitong Canal.

2. 2. Yanggu Section of Huitong Canal

   The Grand Canal is the world's longest artificial waterway, and in Shandong, near Yanggu, you can still see why it was a fiendish piece of engineering. The Huitong Canal was dug in the Yuan dynasty, at the end of the thirteenth century, to link the Yellow River region with the Wei River and carry grain north to the capital at Beijing, and it crossed ground that rises and falls, so that boats had to be lifted by locks over a high ridge. The Ming dynasty reopened and improved it in the early fifteenth century, after the canal silted up, with the engineer Song Li often credited with the repair.

   Read the complete Yanggu Section of Huitong Canal write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Yanggu Section of Huitong Canal comes up about 105 km into the recorded legs. Next is Nanwang Complex.

3. 3. Nanwang Complex

   China's Grand Canal has a trick at its summit. The canal runs north to south for nearly two thousand kilometres, but in Shandong the land rises to a ridge between the Yellow River and the Huai, and boats cannot cross a hill. At Nanwang, near Wenshang, Ming dynasty engineers solved the problem in the early fifteenth century. The overseer Song Li and the water expert Bai Ying built a dam across the Wen River to divert its water to the summit of the canal, where it split, sending a share north and a share south. The idea was to feed both slopes from one high point.

   Read the complete Nanwang Complex write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 206 km into the recorded legs you reach Nanwang Complex. Next is back through Yanggu Section of Huitong Canal.

4. 4. back through Yanggu Section of Huitong Canal

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Yanggu Section of Huitong Canal write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Yanggu Section of Huitong Canal, late in the day. Next is Linqing Section of Huitong Canal.

5. 5. Linqing Section of Huitong Canal

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Linqing Section of Huitong Canal write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Linqing Section of Huitong Canal. That is the ride.