Ming Tombs and Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Ming Tombs

   North of Beijing, where the plain meets the first ridges of the Jundu mountains, thirteen emperors of the Ming dynasty lie buried in a broad valley chosen for its perfect feng shui: mountains behind, a gentle slope, water in front. The first to be buried here was the Yongle emperor, the ruler who moved the capital to Beijing and built the Forbidden City in the early fifteenth century; his tomb, Changling, is the largest and best preserved, with a magnificent hall supported by enormous columns of nanmu wood. UNESCO lists them with the other imperial tombs of the Ming and Qing dynasties.

   Read the complete Ming Tombs write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Ming Tombs is where the day begins. Next is Temple of Heaven: an Imperial Sacrificial.

2. 2. Temple of Heaven: an Imperial Sacrificial

   The Temple of Heaven was where the emperors of China spoke to the sky. Built in the early fifteenth century under the Yongle emperor, the same ruler who ordered the Forbidden City, it was the stage for a ritual that the Ming and Qing emperors performed each year, at the winter solstice, to pray for good harvests and report to Heaven on the state of the empire. Heaven was imagined as round and Earth as square, and the geometry of the complex follows that idea: round buildings and altars on a square ground.

   Read the complete Temple of Heaven: an Imperial Sacrificial write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Temple of Heaven: an Imperial Sacrificial comes up about 54 km into the recorded legs. Next is Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian.

3. 3. Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian

   In the 1920s and 1930s, excavations in the limestone caves of Dragon Bone Hill at Zhoukoudian, south-west of Beijing, uncovered the remains of early humans who lived here hundreds of thousands of years ago. They became known as Peking Man, a population of Homo erectus, and in 1929 the Chinese archaeologist Pei Wenzhong found a nearly complete skull. The fossils caused a sensation, offering evidence of early humans in Asia and their use of fire. Then, in 1941, during the Japanese occupation, the original bones were packed for shipment to the United States and vanished; their fate remains one of the great mysteries of archaeology. The site is listed by UNESCO, and a museum displays casts and later finds.

   Read the complete Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 109 km into the recorded legs you reach Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian. Next is back through Temple of Heaven: an Imperial Sacrificial.

4. 4. back through Temple of Heaven: an Imperial Sacrificial

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Temple of Heaven: an Imperial Sacrificial write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Temple of Heaven: an Imperial Sacrificial, late in the day. Next is Ming Tombs.

5. 5. Ming Tombs

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Ming Tombs write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Ming Tombs. That is the ride.