Songye Temple Pagoda and Longmen Grottoes

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Songye Temple Pagoda

   The Songyue pagoda is the one that any historian of Chinese architecture will point you toward, and it stands in the grounds of an old temple at the foot of Mount Song, five kilometres from Songyang. It is a tall brick pagoda with twelve sides, a shape found almost nowhere else, rising in tiers of tightly packed eaves to a slender top. By most accounts it dates from the early sixth century, which makes it the oldest brick pagoda in China, and one of the oldest standing buildings in the country.

   Read the complete Songye Temple Pagoda write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Songye Temple Pagoda is where the day begins. Next is Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han.

2. 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.

   Read the complete Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   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 64 km into the recorded legs. Next is Site of Dingding.

3. 3. Site of Dingding Gate

   Luoyang was a capital for so many Chinese dynasties that locals like to say it holds the history of thirteen of them, and the Dingding Gate was the grand southern entrance of the outer city in the Sui and Tang periods, when Luoyang was one of the largest cities in the world. Through it passed officials, merchants, pilgrims and ambassadors, many of them travelling on the routes that linked China with Central Asia and beyond, which is why it forms part of the UNESCO listing of the Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor, inscribed in 2014. Excavations revealed the foundations of the gate and the road surface, with ruts and even footprints of people and animals, now protected inside a modern museum building that echoes the shape of the original gate.

   Read the complete Site of Dingding Gate write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 90 km into the recorded legs you reach Site of Dingding. Next is Longmen Grottoes.

4. 4. 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.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Longmen Grottoes, about halfway. Next is back through Site of Dingding.

5. 5. back through Site of Dingding Gate

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Site of Dingding Gate 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 Dingding sits at 146 km, about halfway. Next is back through Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han.

6. 6. back through Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han 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 Luoyang City from the Eastern Han comes up about 162 km into the recorded legs. Next is Songye Temple Pagoda.

7. 7. Songye Temple Pagoda

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Songye Temple Pagoda write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Songye Temple Pagoda closes the day.