Songyang Academy of Classical Learning and Site of Han’gu Pass of Han Dynasty in Xin’ · 228 km from Songyang
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
228 km
Riding-time estimate
3 h 23
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.
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Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
228 km from Songyang to Songyang, about 3 h 23 of riding. The stops in between: Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han, Site of Han’gu Pass of Han Dynasty in Xin’ and back through Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han. It climbs into the mountains.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Songyang Academy of Classical Learning
Long before there were universities in Europe, Chinese scholars gathered at academies in quiet places to read, argue and teach, and the Songyang Academy at the foot of Mount Song was one of the four great ones of the Song dynasty. It began life as a Buddhist temple and a Daoist retreat, and in the eleventh century it was turned into a school. Its most famous teachers were the brothers Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi, who helped shape the school of thought called Neo-Confucianism. The buildings you see today are mostly later rebuildings, in the Ming and Qing styles, with courtyards and halls in grey brick and tile.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Songyang Academy of Classical Learning is where the day begins. Next is Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han.
2. Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han
Luoyang, in Henan province, is one of the four great ancient capitals of China, a city that served as the seat of more than a dozen dynasties over a thousand years. East of the modern city, in the fields along the Luo river, lie the remains of the capital of the Eastern Han dynasty, which ruled from Luoyang from the first to the early third century AD, and of the later Wei, Jin and Northern Wei capitals built on the same site. The site is part of the UNESCO-listed Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor, inscribed in 2014.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han comes up about 62 km into the recorded legs. Next is Site of Han’gu Pass of Han Dynasty in Xin’.
3. Site of Han’gu Pass of Han Dynasty in Xin’
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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 110 km into the recorded legs you reach Site of Han’gu Pass of Han Dynasty in Xin’. Next is back through Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han.
4. back through Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Songyang Academy of Classical Learning. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Songyang Academy of Classical Learning to Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han
Songyang Academy of Classical Learning → Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han to Site of Han’gu Pass of Han Dynasty in Xin’
Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han → Site of Han’gu Pass of Han Dynasty in Xin’ is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Site of Han’gu Pass of Han Dynasty in Xin’ to back through Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han
Site of Han’gu Pass of Han Dynasty in Xin’ → back through Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han to Songyang Academy of Classical Learning
back through Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han → Songyang Academy of Classical Learning is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.