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.
From Wenshang it runs 320 km to Wenshang; allow about 4 h 29 of riding. It goes by way of Temple and Cemetery of Confucius and the K, Weishan Section of Huitong Canal and back through Temple and Cemetery of Confucius and the K. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
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.
Nanwang Complex 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 65 km into the recorded legs. Next is Weishan Section of Huitong Canal.
Weishan sits on the eastern shore of a very big lake, and the lake changes everything about the place. Weishan Lake is the southernmost of a chain of shallow lakes in south-west Shandong, forming a long strip of water that links the Huitong Canal with the Grand Canal further south. In summer the shallows are covered with lotus flowers, in pink and white, and reed beds stretch for kilometres along the shore. Fishing boats move through the channels, and the air smells of water and mud.
Read the complete Weishan Section of Huitong Canal write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 159 km into the recorded legs you reach Weishan Section of Huitong Canal. 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 Nanwang Complex.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Nanwang Complex write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Nanwang Complex. That is the ride.
Nanwang Complex → 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.
Temple and Cemetery of Confucius and the K → Weishan Section of Huitong Canal is 94 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Weishan Section of Huitong Canal → back through Temple and Cemetery of Confucius and the K is 95 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 → Nanwang Complex is 67 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.