Sanchkou Section of Bei Canal and Nana Can and Ming Tombs

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Sanchkou Section of Bei Canal and Nana Can

   The flat country west of Tianjin looks like nothing much, a plain of poplars, canals, fish ponds and warehouses, but under it lies the engineering that fed imperial Beijing. The Grand Canal ran from the Yangtze delta to the north, and here the northern and southern branches met the rivers that flow into the Haihe and out toward the sea. This confluence, the junction of the Bei Canal and the Nan Canal, is part of the section of the canal that UNESCO listed in 2014, and it gives you a sense of how important water was to the Chinese state.

   Read the complete Sanchkou Section of Bei Canal and Nana Can write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Sanchkou Section of Bei Canal and Nana Can is where the day begins. Next is Tongzhou Section of Tonghui Canal.

2. 2. Tongzhou Section of Tonghui Canal

   For centuries, Beijing depended on grain shipped from the south along the Grand Canal, the longest artificial waterway in the world, and Tongzhou was where the boats arrived. The Tonghui canal connected Tongzhou with the capital, carrying grain, timber and goods to the city's markets and granaries. The Grand Canal, built and rebuilt over more than two thousand years, was listed by UNESCO in 2014, and the Tongzhou section is its northernmost part. Today, the waterfront has been landscaped into parks, with walkways, bridges and the old Ranteng pagoda rising above the water.

   Read the complete Tongzhou Section of Tonghui Canal write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Tongzhou Section of Tonghui Canal comes up about 98 km into the recorded legs. Next is Ming Tombs.

3. 3. 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

   about 166 km into the recorded legs you reach Ming Tombs. Next is back through Tongzhou Section of Tonghui Canal.

4. 4. back through Tongzhou Section of Tonghui Canal

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Tongzhou Section of Tonghui Canal write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Tongzhou Section of Tonghui Canal, late in the day. Next is Sanchkou Section of Bei Canal and Nana Can.

5. 5. Sanchkou Section of Bei Canal and Nana Can

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Sanchkou Section of Bei Canal and Nana Can write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Sanchkou Section of Bei Canal and Nana Can. That is the ride.