Taierzhuang Section of Zhong Canal and Si County Section of Tongji Canal

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Taierzhuang Section of Zhong Canal

   Taierzhuang is a canal town that was destroyed and rebuilt. In the spring of 1938 it was the scene of one of the first major Chinese victories over the invading Japanese army, a battle fought house by house through the streets for weeks, and the town was reduced to rubble. The victory was a great morale booster at a dark time. Decades later, the town was reconstructed in the style of the old canal towns, with grey brick houses, stone bridges and tiled roofs, and today it is a popular heritage destination, with a long lantern-lit waterfront.

   Read the complete Taierzhuang Section of Zhong Canal write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Taierzhuang Section of Zhong Canal is where the day begins. Next is Suqian Section of Zhong Canal.

2. 2. Suqian Section of Zhong Canal

   The Zhong Canal, the Middle Canal, was dug in the late seventeenth century for a very practical reason: the Yellow River kept getting in the way. Boats on the Grand Canal had to cross that unruly river in northern Jiangsu, and the crossing was dangerous and often blocked by floods and silt. Engineers of the Qing dynasty cut a new channel that avoided the worst of it, and the Suqian section is a reminder of that effort. It belongs to the Grand Canal's UNESCO listing, and the canal here is a broad, working waterway with barges, embankments and farmland on either side.

   Read the complete Suqian Section of Zhong Canal write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Suqian Section of Zhong Canal comes up 91 km in. Next is Si County Section of Tongji Canal.

3. 3. Si County Section of Tongji Canal

   The Grand Canal of China is the longest artificial waterway in the world, a chain of channels linking Beijing in the north with Hangzhou in the south, and the section through Si County in northern Anhui is part of its oldest and most important layer. The Tongji Canal, built in the early seventh century under the Sui dynasty, linked the Yellow River with the Huai and eventually the Yangtze, and made it possible to move grain and troops from the rich south to the capital. Hundreds of thousands of labourers are said to have dug it, and the project was so costly that it contributed to the collapse of the dynasty.

   Read the complete Si County Section of Tongji Canal write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   182 km in you reach Si County Section of Tongji Canal. Next is back through Suqian Section of Zhong Canal.

4. 4. back through Suqian Section of Zhong Canal

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Suqian Section of Zhong Canal write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Suqian Section of Zhong Canal, late in the day. Next is Taierzhuang Section of Zhong Canal.

5. 5. Taierzhuang Section of Zhong Canal

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Taierzhuang Section of Zhong Canal write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Taierzhuang Section of Zhong Canal. That is the ride.