CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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.
From Suzhou it runs 299 km to Suzhou; allow about 4 h 09 of riding. On the way it passes Nanxun Section of Jiangnan Canal, Area of Yaoshan Site and back through Nanxun Section of Jiangnan Canal. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Wang Xianchen was a retired imperial official who, around 1509, in the Ming dynasty, bought a piece of marshy land in Suzhou and made a garden. He named it after a line in an ancient essay about how a humble man can learn to govern his own small plot, and the name has a modest, ironic ring: the Humble Administrator's Garden is the largest in Suzhou, covering about five hectares, and is regarded as one of the finest in China. It belongs to the group of classical Suzhou gardens that UNESCO inscribed in 1997.
Read the complete The Humble Administrator's Garden write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The Humble Administrator's Garden is where the day begins. Next is Nanxun Section of Jiangnan Canal.
Nanxun is one of the water towns of the Yangtze delta, south of Lake Tai, where life has revolved around canals for more than a thousand years. In the nineteenth century, it became immensely rich through the silk trade, and its merchant families, known by nicknames like the four elephants and the eight bulls, built mansions that mixed Chinese courtyards with European columns, stained glass and Western-style furniture, an unusual blend you will not find in many other water towns. The canal running through the town is part of the Grand Canal, the immense waterway linking Beijing with Hangzhou, which UNESCO listed in 2014.
Read the complete Nanxun Section of Jiangnan Canal write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Nanxun Section of Jiangnan Canal comes up about 64 km into the recorded legs. Next is Area of Yaoshan Site.
Five thousand years ago, on the plain north of Hangzhou, people built a city with a water system so sophisticated that archaeologists still marvel at it. This is the Liangzhu culture, and the Yaoshan site is one of its most intriguing pieces, thought to be a ritual platform where elites took part in ceremonies and where beautifully worked jades were buried. The Liangzhu people carved jade into discs called bi and tubes known as cong, with delicate, mask-like faces, and these objects were symbols of status and belief. The whole Liangzhu complex has been a UNESCO site since 2019.
Read the complete Area of Yaoshan Site write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 147 km into the recorded legs you reach Area of Yaoshan Site. Next is back through Nanxun Section of Jiangnan Canal.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Nanxun Section of Jiangnan Canal write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Nanxun Section of Jiangnan Canal, late in the day. Next is The Humble Administrator's Garden.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Humble Administrator's Garden write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at The Humble Administrator's Garden. That is the ride.
The Humble Administrator's Garden → Nanxun Section of Jiangnan Canal is 64 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Nanxun Section of Jiangnan Canal → Area of Yaoshan Site is 83 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Area of Yaoshan Site → back through Nanxun Section of Jiangnan Canal is 82 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Nanxun Section of Jiangnan Canal → The Humble Administrator's Garden is 71 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.