CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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.
A 314 km round trip from Tai’an - roughly 5 h 10 in the saddle. The stops in between: Temple and Cemetery of Confucius and the K, Nanwang Complex and back through Temple and Cemetery of Confucius and the K. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
Mount Taishan is the greatest of China's five sacred mountains, rising from the Shandong plain to 1,545 metres, and for about three thousand years it has been a place of pilgrimage and imperial ritual. Emperors climbed it to perform the feng and shan sacrifices, ceremonies reporting their success to Heaven and Earth, and Confucius is said to have climbed it too and remarked that the world seemed small. UNESCO listed it in 1987 for both natural and cultural value, one of the first sites in China to be recognised.
Read the complete Mount Taishan write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Mount Taishan is where the day begins. Next is Temple and Cemetery of Confucius and the K.
Confucius was born in 551 BC in the small state of Lu, in what is now Shandong province, and Qufu was his home town. When he died in 479 BC, his disciples buried him on the banks of the Si river, and a small shrine was built to his memory. Over two thousand years, that modest shrine grew into a huge temple complex, rebuilt and enlarged by emperors who wanted to link themselves to the sage whose teachings underpinned the Chinese state. The temple, the Kong family mansion and the Kong Lin, the family cemetery, were listed together by UNESCO in 1994.
Read the complete Temple and Cemetery of Confucius and the K write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Temple and Cemetery of Confucius and the K comes up about 93 km into the recorded legs. Next is 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 160 km into the recorded legs you reach Nanwang Complex. Next is back through Temple and Cemetery of Confucius and the K.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Temple and Cemetery of Confucius and the K write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Temple and Cemetery of Confucius and the K, late in the day. Next is Mount Taishan.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mount Taishan write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Mount Taishan. That is the ride.
Mount Taishan → Temple and Cemetery of Confucius and the K is 93 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Temple and Cemetery of Confucius and the K → Nanwang Complex is 67 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Nanwang Complex → back through Temple and Cemetery of Confucius and the K is 65 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Temple and Cemetery of Confucius and the K → Mount Taishan is 90 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.