Why this ride
From Baiqi it runs 163 km to Baiqi; allow about 2 h 35 of riding. On the way it passes Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks, Jiuri Mountain Wind-Praying Inscriptions, Sites of Cizao Kilns and Site of Shunji Bridge.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Shihu Dock and Site of Shunji Bridge
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 163 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 35
- 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. Shihu Dock
In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, Quanzhou was one of the busiest ports in the world. Arab, Persian, Indian and Italian merchants lived in the city, which Marco Polo knew as Zayton, and ships loaded with silk, porcelain and tea left for the Indian Ocean. The port stood on the Fujian coast of southern China, at the mouth of the Jin river, and the whole system of temples, mosques, bridges, docks and kiln sites was listed by UNESCO in 2021 as Quanzhou, Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China.
Read the complete Shihu Dock write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Shihu Dock is where the day begins. Next is Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks.
2. Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks
In the Song and Yuan centuries, roughly a thousand years ago, Quanzhou on the coast of Fujian was one of the busiest ports on the planet. Arab, Persian, Indian and Southeast Asian merchants lived here, ships loaded silk, porcelain and tea for the Indian Ocean, and Marco Polo, who knew it as Zayton, described a harbour crowded with vessels. The Zhenwu Temple stands on a small rise by the estuary of the Jin river, where officials once made sacrifices to the god of the sea before the fleets sailed, and the old docks along the shore nearby are part of the World Heritage Site inscribed in 2021 as Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China.
Read the complete Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks comes up about 23 km into the recorded legs. Next is Jiuri Mountain Wind-Praying Inscriptions.
3. Jiuri Mountain Wind-Praying Inscriptions
Before the sailing season, officials and merchants climbed a hill above Quanzhou to ask the gods for wind. The Jiuri mountain inscriptions, carved on cliff faces and boulders between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, record these prayers, and they are among the most unusual documents of China's maritime past. They were written by local officials of the Song dynasty, and they appeal to the sea gods and to the spirits of the mountain to send a favourable monsoon, so that the trade ships bound for Southeast Asia, India and Arabia could set out in safety and return. Standing before a rock face carved with neat columns of characters, you are reading a note that someone left when the world's biggest port was run by hand and weather.
Read the complete Jiuri Mountain Wind-Praying Inscriptions write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 40 km into the recorded legs you reach Jiuri Mountain Wind-Praying Inscriptions. Next is Sites of Cizao Kilns.
4. Sites of Cizao Kilns
A thousand years ago, Quanzhou was one of the greatest ports in the world, the place Marco Polo called Zaitun, where ships from Persia, Arabia, India and Southeast Asia came to trade for silk, tea and porcelain. The ceramics that filled those ships were made in kilns in the hills around the city, and the Cizao kilns, near Jinjiang, were among the most important. Long dragon kilns, built up the slopes of the hills, were fired with wood, producing huge quantities of pottery for export. Shards from Cizao have been found across Asia and as far away as East Africa. Since 2021 the kiln sites have been part of the UNESCO World Heritage site of Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China.
Read the complete Sites of Cizao Kilns write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Sites of Cizao Kilns, about halfway. Next is Site of Shunji Bridge.
5. Site of Shunji Bridge
The bridges of Quanzhou were as astonishing as its port. In the Song dynasty, when the city grew rich on trade with Arabia, India and South-East Asia, its builders spanned the estuaries with long stone bridges set on huge foundations of boulders and oyster shells, and some of them are still standing. The Shunji Bridge, whose site is on our list, belongs to this tradition, and what remains is a place beside the river where engineers once solved a problem that seemed impossible: how to build a stone bridge across a tidal estuary with strong currents.
Read the complete Site of Shunji Bridge write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Site of Shunji Bridge sits at 68 km, about halfway. Next is back through Sites of Cizao Kilns.
6. back through Sites of Cizao Kilns
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Sites of Cizao Kilns write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Sites of Cizao Kilns comes up about 97 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Jiuri Mountain Wind-Praying Inscriptions.
7. back through Jiuri Mountain Wind-Praying Inscriptions
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Jiuri Mountain Wind-Praying Inscriptions write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 126 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Jiuri Mountain Wind-Praying Inscriptions. Next is back through Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks.
8. back through Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks, late in the day. Next is Shihu Dock.
9. Shihu Dock
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Shihu Dock write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 163 km.
Leg by leg
Shihu Dock to Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks
Shihu Dock → Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks to Jiuri Mountain Wind-Praying Inscriptions
Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks → Jiuri Mountain Wind-Praying Inscriptions is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Jiuri Mountain Wind-Praying Inscriptions to Sites of Cizao Kilns
Jiuri Mountain Wind-Praying Inscriptions → Sites of Cizao Kilns is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Sites of Cizao Kilns to Site of Shunji Bridge
Sites of Cizao Kilns → Site of Shunji Bridge is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Site of Shunji Bridge to back through Sites of Cizao Kilns
Site of Shunji Bridge → back through Sites of Cizao Kilns is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Sites of Cizao Kilns to back through Jiuri Mountain Wind-Praying Inscriptions
back through Sites of Cizao Kilns → back through Jiuri Mountain Wind-Praying Inscriptions is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Jiuri Mountain Wind-Praying Inscriptions to back through Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks
back through Jiuri Mountain Wind-Praying Inscriptions → back through Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks to Shihu Dock
back through Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks → Shihu Dock is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.