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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor and Xingjiaosi Pagodas

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
131 km
Riding-time estimate
2 h 04
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.

Open this ride in CurveScout

Why this ride

131 km from Lintong to Lintong, about 2 h 04 of riding. It goes by way of Site of Daming Palace in Chang’an City of, Xingjiaosi Pagodas and back through Site of Daming Palace in Chang’an City of. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,200 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available.

Scenic road chapters

Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor → Site of Daming Palace in Chang’an

34 km on Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor → Site of Daming Palace in Chang’an.

Chapter facts
Length
34 km

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor

    Beneath a large, tree-covered mound at the foot of Mount Li, east of Xi'an, lies the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, who unified China in 221 BC and became its first emperor. He ruled for only eleven years more, dying in 210 BC, but in that time he standardised weights, measures, writing and the axle width of carts, linked the northern walls into an early Great Wall, and conscripted hundreds of thousands of labourers for his projects. The tomb mound, which still rises about fifty metres, has never been opened. The ancient historian Sima Qian wrote that the burial chamber held a model of the empire with rivers of mercury, and modern soil tests have found high levels of mercury around the mound.

    Read the complete Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor is where the day begins. Next is Site of Daming Palace in Chang’an City of.

  2. 2. Site of Daming Palace in Chang’an City of

    At its height in the seventh and eighth centuries, Chang'an, the Tang capital, was probably the biggest city in the world, with a population of around a million and a street plan so precise that Japan copied it for Kyoto and Nara. At the north of the city, on a plateau above the rest, stood the Daming Palace, the imperial residence from the 630s, with a great audience hall, the Hanyuan Hall, set on a raised platform, from which the emperor looked out over the city. It was the political heart of the empire, and a place of ceremony, intrigue and banquets, receiving envoys from Persia, Japan, Korea and Central Asia.

    Read the complete Site of Daming Palace in Chang’an City of write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Site of Daming Palace in Chang’an City of comes up about 34 km into the recorded legs. Next is Xingjiaosi Pagodas.

  3. 3. Xingjiaosi Pagodas

    When the monk Xuanzang returned to Chang'an in the seventh century after sixteen years of travel to India, he brought back hundreds of Buddhist scriptures, which he spent the rest of his life translating, and his journey later inspired the classic novel Journey to the West, with its Monkey King. After his death in 664, his remains were buried at Xingjiao Temple, on the slopes south of the city, and a five-storey brick pagoda was built over them in 669. Next to it stand two smaller pagodas for two of his disciples. The three pagodas, in a peaceful temple setting, are part of the Silk Roads World Heritage site, a tribute to one of the most famous travellers along that route.

    Read the complete Xingjiaosi Pagodas write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    about 65 km into the recorded legs you reach Xingjiaosi Pagodas. Next is back through Site of Daming Palace in Chang’an City of.

  4. 4. back through Site of Daming Palace in Chang’an City of

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Site of Daming Palace in Chang’an City of write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    back through Site of Daming Palace in Chang’an City of, late in the day. Next is Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor.

  5. 5. Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Back at Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor. That is the ride.

Leg by leg

Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor to Site of Daming Palace in Chang’an City of

Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor → Site of Daming Palace in Chang’an City of is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Site of Daming Palace in Chang’an City of to Xingjiaosi Pagodas

Site of Daming Palace in Chang’an City of → Xingjiaosi Pagodas is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Xingjiaosi Pagodas to back through Site of Daming Palace in Chang’an City of

Xingjiaosi Pagodas → back through Site of Daming Palace in Chang’an City of is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Site of Daming Palace in Chang’an City of to Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor

back through Site of Daming Palace in Chang’an City of → Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

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