Why this ride
359 km from Quanzhou to Quanzhou, about 5 h 04 of riding. On the way it passes Sites of Dehua Kilns, Xiacaopu Iron Production Site of Qingyang and back through Sites of Dehua Kilns. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Statue of Lao Tze and Xiacaopu Iron Production Site of Qingyang
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 359 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 04
- 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. Statue of Lao Tze
North of Quanzhou, where the city fades into granite hills and orchards, the road runs up to the foot of Qingyuan Mountain and a figure that stops most visitors for a moment. The Lao Tze statue is a seated old man with a long beard, carved out of a natural boulder, and it has been there since the Song dynasty, roughly a thousand years. It is among the largest carved Taoist figures in China, and because the stone was never moved, the whole thing feels grown rather than built.
Read the complete Statue of Lao Tze write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Statue of Lao Tze is where the day begins. Next is Sites of Dehua Kilns.
2. Sites of Dehua Kilns
Dehua, a county in the mountains of Fujian province, in south-eastern China, has been making porcelain for over a thousand years. Its white porcelain, known in the West as blanc de Chine, is famous for its pure, creamy white colour and its fine figures, especially statues of Guanyin, the goddess of mercy, and other Buddhist and Taoist figures. The ancient kiln sites of Dehua, including long dragon kilns built on hillsides, are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China, inscribed in 2021.
Read the complete Sites of Dehua Kilns write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Sites of Dehua Kilns comes up about 100 km into the recorded legs. Next is Xiacaopu Iron Production Site of Qingyang.
3. Xiacaopu Iron Production Site of Qingyang
In the green hills of Anxi county, inland from the port city of Quanzhou in Fujian, the Xiacaopu site preserves the remains of an iron industry that flourished during the Song and Yuan dynasties, roughly from the tenth to the fourteenth centuries. Archaeologists found furnaces, slag heaps, ore-roasting pits and workshops on a hillside, evidence of large-scale production. The iron produced here was shipped down the rivers to Quanzhou and exported to Southeast Asia and beyond, and that is why the site is part of the World Heritage listing of Quanzhou, Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China, inscribed in 2021. At that time, Quanzhou was one of the largest ports in the world, visited by Arab, Persian and Indian merchants, and described by Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta.
Read the complete Xiacaopu Iron Production Site of Qingyang write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 176 km into the recorded legs you reach Xiacaopu Iron Production Site of Qingyang. Next is back through Sites of Dehua Kilns.
4. back through Sites of Dehua Kilns
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Sites of Dehua 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 Dehua Kilns, late in the day. Next is Statue of Lao Tze.
5. Statue of Lao Tze
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Statue of Lao Tze write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Statue of Lao Tze. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Statue of Lao Tze to Sites of Dehua Kilns
Statue of Lao Tze → Sites of Dehua Kilns is 100 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Sites of Dehua Kilns to Xiacaopu Iron Production Site of Qingyang
Sites of Dehua Kilns → Xiacaopu Iron Production Site of Qingyang is 76 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Xiacaopu Iron Production Site of Qingyang to back through Sites of Dehua Kilns
Xiacaopu Iron Production Site of Qingyang → back through Sites of Dehua Kilns is 82 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Sites of Dehua Kilns to Statue of Lao Tze
back through Sites of Dehua Kilns → Statue of Lao Tze is 101 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.