Luoyang Bridge and Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 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 Jiuri Mountain Wind-Praying Inscriptions.

2. 2. Jiuri Mountain Wind-Praying Inscriptions

   Before the sailing season, officials and merchants climbed a hill above Quanzhou to ask the gods for wind. The Jiuri mountain inscriptions, carved on cliff faces and boulders between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, record these prayers, and they are among the most unusual documents of China's maritime past. They were written by local officials of the Song dynasty, and they appeal to the sea gods and to the spirits of the mountain to send a favourable monsoon, so that the trade ships bound for Southeast Asia, India and Arabia could set out in safety and return. Standing before a rock face carved with neat columns of characters, you are reading a note that someone left when the world's biggest port was run by hand and weather.

   Read the complete Jiuri Mountain Wind-Praying Inscriptions write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Jiuri Mountain Wind-Praying Inscriptions comes up about 20 km into the recorded legs. Next is Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks.

3. 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 35 km into the recorded legs you reach Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks. Next is back through Jiuri Mountain Wind-Praying Inscriptions.

4. 4. back through Jiuri Mountain Wind-Praying Inscriptions

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Jiuri Mountain Wind-Praying Inscriptions write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Jiuri Mountain Wind-Praying Inscriptions, late in the day. Next is Luoyang Bridge.

5. 5. 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

   Back at Luoyang Bridge. That is the ride.