Skip to content
CurveScout

CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

Pits of Terracotta Army and Xingjiaosi Pagodas

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
133 km
Riding-time estimate
2 h 07
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

From Lintong it runs 133 km to Lintong; allow about 2 h 07 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

Pits of Terracotta Army → Site of Daming Palace in Chang’an City of

The ride follows Pits of Terracotta Army → Site of Daming Palace in Chang’an City of for 35 km.

Chapter facts
Length
35 km

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. Pits of Terracotta Army

    In 1974 a group of farmers digging a well near the town of Lintong in Shaanxi struck something hard, and so began one of the great archaeological finds of the twentieth century. Below the farmland lay the Terracotta Army, thousands of life-size clay soldiers, horses and chariots, buried to guard the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, the man who unified China in 221 BC and became its first emperor. He ordered the burial complex to be started when he came to the throne, and tens of thousands of workers laboured on it for decades.

    Read the complete Pits of Terracotta Army write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Pits of Terracotta Army 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 35 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 66 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 Pits of Terracotta Army.

  5. 5. Pits of Terracotta Army

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Pits of Terracotta Army write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Back at Pits of Terracotta Army. That is the ride.

Leg by leg

Pits of Terracotta Army to Site of Daming Palace in Chang’an City of

Pits of Terracotta Army → Site of Daming Palace in Chang’an City of is 35 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 Pits of Terracotta Army

back through Site of Daming Palace in Chang’an City of → Pits of Terracotta Army is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

More motorcycle rides nearby