Why this ride
279 km from Yanqing to Yanqing, about 4 h 16 of riding. The stops in between: Ming Tombs, Badaling, Summer Palace and The Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing D. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The Great Wall and The Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing D
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 279 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 16
- 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.
Scenic road chapters
Badaling → Summer Palace
The ride follows Badaling → Summer Palace for 53 km.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 53 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. The Great Wall
The Great Wall is not one wall but many, built and rebuilt over two thousand years by different dynasties, and the section north-west of Beijing is the one most people picture. The stone and brick wall you see here was largely built by the Ming dynasty from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, when a strong frontier was needed against the peoples of the steppe. Watchtowers stand on the crest every few hundred metres, and the wall climbs and falls along the ridges of the Yanshan mountains, with signal towers on the high points that once passed warnings by fire and smoke.
Read the complete The Great Wall write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Great Wall is where the day begins. Next is Ming Tombs.
2. Ming Tombs
North of Beijing, where the plain meets the first ridges of the Jundu mountains, thirteen emperors of the Ming dynasty lie buried in a broad valley chosen for its perfect feng shui: mountains behind, a gentle slope, water in front. The first to be buried here was the Yongle emperor, the ruler who moved the capital to Beijing and built the Forbidden City in the early fifteenth century; his tomb, Changling, is the largest and best preserved, with a magnificent hall supported by enormous columns of nanmu wood. UNESCO lists them with the other imperial tombs of the Ming and Qing dynasties.
Read the complete Ming Tombs write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ming Tombs comes up about 32 km into the recorded legs. Next is Badaling.
3. Badaling
Badaling is the part of the Great Wall that most of the world has seen, and for good reason. The Ming dynasty rebuilt and strengthened the wall here in the sixteenth century, at a pass in the mountains northwest of Beijing, to guard the approach to the capital through the Juyong Pass. The wall climbs steeply over the ridges, with watchtowers at intervals, and the view from the top, with the line of stone snaking away over bare hills, is as epic as the photographs suggest. Restored in the 1950s, it was the first section opened to visitors, and later received many foreign leaders, including Richard Nixon in 1972.
Read the complete Badaling write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 66 km into the recorded legs you reach Badaling. Next is Summer Palace.
4. Summer Palace
The Summer Palace is the Qing court's idea of escaping the city, and even with the modern capital spread out around it, the idea still works. The core is Kunming Lake, a large artificial basin, with Longevity Hill rising from its northern shore and covered in halls, pavilions and the tall Tower of Buddhist Incense. The Qianlong Emperor shaped the garden in the mid eighteenth century, reportedly to celebrate his mother's birthday, and modelled parts of it on the scenery around West Lake in Hangzhou. British and French troops burned it during the Second Opium War in 1860, and the Empress Dowager Cixi rebuilt it later in the century, which is where the famous story comes from that she paid for it with money meant for the navy. The marble boat moored at the lakeshore, which cannot sail, has become the punchline of that tale.
Read the complete Summer Palace write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Summer Palace, about halfway. Next is The Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing D.
5. The Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing D
The Forbidden City is the largest palace complex in the world, and from 1420 to 1912, it was the home of twenty-four emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties. It was built by the Yongle emperor, who moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing, and who used tens of thousands of craftsmen and hundreds of thousands of labourers to finish it in about fourteen years. It covers about seventy-two hectares, with some nine hundred buildings, surrounded by a moat and a high wall. The name comes from the fact that ordinary people were forbidden to enter without permission, on pain of punishment.
Read the complete The Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing D write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing D sits at 137 km, about halfway. Next is back through Summer Palace.
6. back through Summer Palace
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Summer Palace write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Summer Palace comes up about 159 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Badaling.
7. back through Badaling
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Badaling write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 214 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Badaling. Next is back through Ming Tombs.
8. back through Ming Tombs
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Ming Tombs write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Ming Tombs, late in the day. Next is The Great Wall.
9. The Great Wall
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Great Wall write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 279 km.
Leg by leg
The Great Wall to Ming Tombs
The Great Wall → Ming Tombs is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ming Tombs to Badaling
Ming Tombs → Badaling is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Badaling to Summer Palace
Badaling → Summer Palace is 53 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Summer Palace to The Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing D
Summer Palace → The Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing D is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing D to back through Summer Palace
The Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing D → back through Summer Palace is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Summer Palace to back through Badaling
back through Summer Palace → back through Badaling is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Badaling to back through Ming Tombs
back through Badaling → back through Ming Tombs is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Ming Tombs to The Great Wall
back through Ming Tombs → The Great Wall is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.