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.
A 250 km round trip from Xin’an Chengguanzhen - roughly 3 h 53 in the saddle. The stops in between: The Grand Canal, Longmen Grottoes, No.160 Site of Hanjia Granary and back through No.160 Site of Hanjia Granary. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
The Hangu Pass is one of the legendary places of Chinese history. According to tradition, it was at the old Hangu Pass, guarding the narrow road between the Central Plain and the Wei valley, that the philosopher Laozi, leaving China on the back of an ox, was asked by the gatekeeper to write down his wisdom before passing, and the result was the Tao Te Ching. That pass lies further west, near Lingbao. In 114 BC, under the Han dynasty, the pass was moved east to Xin'an county, near Luoyang, and it is the remains of this later Han pass, with its gate, walls and stretches of ancient road, that form part of the Silk Roads World Heritage site, on the route between the capitals of Chang'an and Luoyang and on towards Central Asia.
Read the complete Site of Han’gu Pass of Han Dynasty in Xin’ write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Site of Han’gu Pass of Han Dynasty in Xin’ is where the day begins. Next is The Grand Canal.
Luoyang is one of China's ancient capitals, a city with over a thousand years of imperial history pressed into its soil, and the Grand Canal is part of the reason why. In the early seventh century the Sui emperor Yang ordered a system of canals dug to link the Yellow River plain with the rice country of the south, and Luoyang became its great hub. Grain from the Yangtze delta was shipped here and stored in enormous underground granaries; one of them, the Hanjia granary inside the city, is part of the UNESCO listing of the Grand Canal and you can see the excavated grain pits today.
Read the complete The Grand Canal write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The Grand Canal comes up about 32 km into the recorded legs. Next is Longmen Grottoes.
South of Luoyang, the river Yi cuts through a narrow gap between two limestone hills, and for about a kilometre the cliffs on both sides are honeycombed with caves, niches and carvings. Over around four centuries, starting in the late fifth century under the Northern Wei dynasty and continuing through the Tang, Buddhist sculptors carved tens of thousands of statues into the rock, from tiny figures a few centimetres high to colossal Buddhas. The Longmen Grottoes were listed by UNESCO in 2000 and are among the finest examples of Chinese Buddhist art.
Read the complete Longmen Grottoes write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 64 km into the recorded legs you reach Longmen Grottoes. Next is No.160 Site of Hanjia Granary, 35 km on.
Luoyang was the capital of thirteen dynasties, and its history runs through the ground like a seam of coal. On the edge of the modern city, the Hanjia Granary is one of the biggest ancient grain stores ever found. It was built in the Sui dynasty, in the early seventh century, and used through the Tang, and the site has hundreds of underground storage pits, each one large enough to hold hundreds of tonnes of grain. UNESCO listed it as part of the Silk Roads in 2014.
Read the complete No.160 Site of Hanjia Granary write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
No.160 Site of Hanjia Granary, about halfway.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Longmen Grottoes write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Longmen Grottoes sits at 140 km, about halfway. Next is back through No.160 Site of Hanjia Granary, 35 km on.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete No.160 Site of Hanjia Granary write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through No.160 Site of Hanjia Granary comes up about 158 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Longmen Grottoes.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Longmen Grottoes write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 190 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Longmen Grottoes. Next is back through The Grand Canal.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Grand Canal write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through The Grand Canal, late in the day. Next is Site of Han’gu Pass of Han Dynasty in Xin’.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Site of Han’gu Pass of Han Dynasty in Xin’ write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 250 km.
Site of Han’gu Pass of Han Dynasty in Xin’ → The Grand Canal is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Grand Canal → Longmen Grottoes is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Longmen Grottoes → No.160 Site of Hanjia Granary is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
No.160 Site of Hanjia Granary → Longmen Grottoes is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Longmen Grottoes → back through No.160 Site of Hanjia Granary is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through No.160 Site of Hanjia Granary → back through Longmen Grottoes is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Longmen Grottoes → back through The Grand Canal is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The Grand Canal → Site of Han’gu Pass of Han Dynasty in Xin’ is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.