Why this ride
A 129 km round trip from Suzhou - roughly 1 h 56 in the saddle. On the way it passes Classical Gardens of Suzhou, Wuxi City Section of Jiangnan Canal and back through Classical Gardens of Suzhou. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The Master-of-Nets Garden and Wuxi City Section of Jiangnan Canal
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 129 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 56
- 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. The Master-of-Nets Garden
Suzhou has been famous for gardens for about a thousand years, and the Master-of-Nets Garden is often called the best of them, though it is among the smallest. It was first laid out in the twelfth century by a retired official and rebuilt in the eighteenth, and the name means fisherman, a modest title for a retiree who wanted to live like one. Everything is arranged to make a small plot of land feel limitless. A pond sits at the centre, with halls, pavilions and covered walkways around it, rocks piled like mountains, a zigzag bridge, and views that are framed by windows cut into walls in the shape of fans, moons and vases. One of its courtyards was copied in New York's Metropolitan Museum as the Astor Court.
Read the complete The Master-of-Nets Garden write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Master-of-Nets Garden is where the day begins. Next is Classical Gardens of Suzhou.
2. Classical Gardens of Suzhou
A classical Chinese garden is a whole landscape squeezed into a courtyard: rocks stand in for mountains, ponds for lakes, and a winding covered walkway reveals one framed view after another, each window cut in a different shape. Suzhou, a canal city west of Shanghai, perfected the art over centuries, as scholars, officials and merchants built private retreats behind high white walls. Nine of its gardens are listed by UNESCO as the Classical Gardens of Suzhou, among them the Humble Administrator's Garden, the Lingering Garden and the tiny, exquisite Master-of-Nets Garden, and the Retreat and Reflection Garden in the water town of Tongli.
Read the complete Classical Gardens of Suzhou write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Classical Gardens of Suzhou comes up about 27 km into the recorded legs. Next is Wuxi City Section of Jiangnan Canal.
3. Wuxi City Section of Jiangnan Canal
The Grand Canal is the longest artificial waterway in the world, stretching from Beijing to Hangzhou, and some of its sections have been in use for more than two thousand years. In the Jiangnan region, south of the Yangtze, it flows through a landscape of rice paddies, lakes and old towns, and in Wuxi it runs right through the city. The canal was listed by UNESCO in 2014, and the Wuxi section includes historic streets, bridges and warehouses along its banks.
Read the complete Wuxi City Section of Jiangnan Canal write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 67 km into the recorded legs you reach Wuxi City Section of Jiangnan Canal. Next is back through Classical Gardens of Suzhou.
4. back through Classical Gardens of Suzhou
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Classical Gardens of Suzhou write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Classical Gardens of Suzhou, late in the day. Next is The Master-of-Nets Garden.
5. The Master-of-Nets Garden
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Master-of-Nets Garden write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at The Master-of-Nets Garden. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
The Master-of-Nets Garden to Classical Gardens of Suzhou
The Master-of-Nets Garden → Classical Gardens of Suzhou is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Classical Gardens of Suzhou to Wuxi City Section of Jiangnan Canal
Classical Gardens of Suzhou → Wuxi City Section of Jiangnan Canal is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Wuxi City Section of Jiangnan Canal to back through Classical Gardens of Suzhou
Wuxi City Section of Jiangnan Canal → back through Classical Gardens of Suzhou is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Classical Gardens of Suzhou to The Master-of-Nets Garden
back through Classical Gardens of Suzhou → The Master-of-Nets Garden is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.