Why this ride
A 93 km round trip from Tangxiang - roughly 1 h 38 in the saddle. The stops in between: Shimenshan Cliffside Carvings, Baodingshan Cliffside Carvings and back through Shimenshan Cliffside Carvings.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Nanshan Cliffside Carvings and Baodingshan Cliffside Carvings
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 93 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 38
- 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. Nanshan Cliffside Carvings
Most visitors to Dazu go for the big Buddhist panels at Baodingshan, but the carvings at Nanshan, on a wooded hillside south of the old county town in Chongqing, are a different thing: Taoist, quieter and much less visited. They belong to the same family of sites, the Dazu Rock Carvings, which UNESCO listed in 1999, and they date from the Song dynasty, roughly the twelfth century, when this part of the Sichuan basin was a centre of religious art.
Read the complete Nanshan Cliffside Carvings write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Nanshan Cliffside Carvings is where the day begins. Next is Shimenshan Cliffside Carvings.
2. Shimenshan Cliffside Carvings
Shimenshan is one of the clusters of rock carvings around Dazu, in Chongqing, where sandstone cliffs were turned into sacred art between the ninth and thirteenth centuries. The Dazu Rock Carvings, a UNESCO listing since 1999, include several sites: Beishan with its small niches, Baodingshan with its sweeping Buddhist tableaux, and Shimenshan, Nanshan and Shizhuanshan, each with its own character. At Shimenshan the carvings, made in the Song dynasty, blend Buddhist, Daoist and Confucian figures, something rare at a single site.
Read the complete Shimenshan Cliffside Carvings write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Shimenshan Cliffside Carvings comes up about 20 km into the recorded legs. Next is Baodingshan Cliffside Carvings.
3. Baodingshan Cliffside Carvings
Of all the stone carvings in China, the ones at Baodingshan are the most surprising, because they are not tucked into a cave but laid out like a huge outdoor theatre in a horseshoe-shaped valley. This is the best-known part of the Dazu Rock Carvings, in the hills of Chongqing, about fifteen kilometres from the old county town, and it was largely the work of one monk, Zhao Zhifeng, who spent decades in the twelfth century turning a valley into a sermon in stone.
Read the complete Baodingshan Cliffside Carvings write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 46 km into the recorded legs you reach Baodingshan Cliffside Carvings. Next is back through Shimenshan Cliffside Carvings.
4. back through Shimenshan Cliffside Carvings
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Shimenshan Cliffside Carvings write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Shimenshan Cliffside Carvings, late in the day. Next is Nanshan Cliffside Carvings.
5. Nanshan Cliffside Carvings
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Nanshan Cliffside Carvings write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Nanshan Cliffside Carvings. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Nanshan Cliffside Carvings to Shimenshan Cliffside Carvings
Nanshan Cliffside Carvings → Shimenshan Cliffside Carvings is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Shimenshan Cliffside Carvings to Baodingshan Cliffside Carvings
Shimenshan Cliffside Carvings → Baodingshan Cliffside Carvings is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Baodingshan Cliffside Carvings to back through Shimenshan Cliffside Carvings
Baodingshan Cliffside Carvings → back through Shimenshan Cliffside Carvings is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Shimenshan Cliffside Carvings to Nanshan Cliffside Carvings
back through Shimenshan Cliffside Carvings → Nanshan Cliffside Carvings is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.