Why this ride
253 km from Beijing to Beijing, about 3 h 39 of riding. On the way it passes Tongzhou Section of Tonghui Canal, Ming Tombs, Badaling and back through Ming Tombs. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing D and Badaling
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 253 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 39
- 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
The Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing D → Tongzhou Section of Tongh
Slow enough to look. The surface follows the shoreline, so the corners arrive where the water decided, not where an engineer did. Water arrives beside the road and stays for 28 km. The line follows the shore because there is nowhere else for it to go.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 23 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Tongzhou Section of Tonghui Canal.
2. Tongzhou Section of Tonghui Canal
For centuries, Beijing depended on grain shipped from the south along the Grand Canal, the longest artificial waterway in the world, and Tongzhou was where the boats arrived. The Tonghui canal connected Tongzhou with the capital, carrying grain, timber and goods to the city's markets and granaries. The Grand Canal, built and rebuilt over more than two thousand years, was listed by UNESCO in 2014, and the Tongzhou section is its northernmost part. Today, the waterfront has been landscaped into parks, with walkways, bridges and the old Ranteng pagoda rising above the water.
Read the complete Tongzhou Section of Tonghui Canal write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Tongzhou Section of Tonghui Canal comes up about 23 km into the recorded legs. Next is Ming Tombs.
3. 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
about 92 km into the recorded legs you reach Ming Tombs. Next is Badaling.
4. 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
Badaling, about halfway. Next is back through Ming Tombs.
5. 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 sits at 170 km, about halfway. Next is back through Tongzhou Section of Tonghui Canal.
6. back through Tongzhou Section of Tonghui Canal
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Tongzhou Section of Tonghui Canal write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Tongzhou Section of Tonghui Canal comes up about 231 km into the recorded legs. Next is The Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing D.
7. The Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing D
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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 closes the day.
Leg by leg
The Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing D to Tongzhou Section of Tonghui Canal
The Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing D → Tongzhou Section of Tonghui Canal is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Tongzhou Section of Tonghui Canal to Ming Tombs
Tongzhou Section of Tonghui Canal → Ming Tombs is 69 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
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 back through Ming Tombs
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 back through Tongzhou Section of Tonghui Canal
back through Ming Tombs → back through Tongzhou Section of Tonghui Canal is 70 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Tongzhou Section of Tonghui Canal to The Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing D
back through Tongzhou Section of Tonghui Canal → The Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing D is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.