Why this ride
A 305 km round trip from Luoyang - roughly 4 h 51 in the saddle. The stops in between: Wanshou Pagoda, Sites of Cizao Kilns, Shihu Dock and Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yu. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Luoyang Bridge and Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yu
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 305 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 51
- 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. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Wanshou Pagoda.
2. 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
Wanshou Pagoda comes up about 35 km into the recorded legs. Next is Sites of Cizao Kilns.
3. Sites of Cizao Kilns
A thousand years ago, Quanzhou was one of the greatest ports in the world, the place Marco Polo called Zaitun, where ships from Persia, Arabia, India and Southeast Asia came to trade for silk, tea and porcelain. The ceramics that filled those ships were made in kilns in the hills around the city, and the Cizao kilns, near Jinjiang, were among the most important. Long dragon kilns, built up the slopes of the hills, were fired with wood, producing huge quantities of pottery for export. Shards from Cizao have been found across Asia and as far away as East Africa. Since 2021 the kiln sites have been part of the UNESCO World Heritage site of Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China.
Read the complete Sites of Cizao Kilns write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 75 km into the recorded legs you reach Sites of Cizao Kilns. Next is Shihu Dock.
4. Shihu Dock
In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, Quanzhou was one of the busiest ports in the world. Arab, Persian, Indian and Italian merchants lived in the city, which Marco Polo knew as Zayton, and ships loaded with silk, porcelain and tea left for the Indian Ocean. The port stood on the Fujian coast of southern China, at the mouth of the Jin river, and the whole system of temples, mosques, bridges, docks and kiln sites was listed by UNESCO in 2021 as Quanzhou, Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China.
Read the complete Shihu Dock write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Shihu Dock, about halfway. Next is Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yu.
5. 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 sits at 143 km, about halfway. Next is back through Shihu Dock.
6. back through Shihu Dock
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Shihu Dock write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Shihu Dock comes up about 192 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Sites of Cizao Kilns.
7. back through Sites of Cizao Kilns
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Sites of Cizao Kilns write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 229 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Sites of Cizao Kilns. Next is back through Wanshou Pagoda.
8. 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, late in the day. Next is Luoyang Bridge.
9. Luoyang Bridge
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
The route ends here after 305 km.
Leg by leg
Luoyang Bridge to Wanshou Pagoda
Luoyang Bridge → Wanshou Pagoda is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Wanshou Pagoda to Sites of Cizao Kilns
Wanshou Pagoda → Sites of Cizao Kilns is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Sites of Cizao Kilns to Shihu Dock
Sites of Cizao Kilns → Shihu Dock is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Shihu Dock to Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yu
Shihu Dock → Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yu is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yu to back through Shihu Dock
Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yu → back through Shihu Dock is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Shihu Dock to back through Sites of Cizao Kilns
back through Shihu Dock → back through Sites of Cizao Kilns is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Sites of Cizao Kilns to back through Wanshou Pagoda
back through Sites of Cizao Kilns → back through Wanshou Pagoda is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Wanshou Pagoda to Luoyang Bridge
back through Wanshou Pagoda → Luoyang Bridge is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.