Tongzhou Section of Tonghui Canal and Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Ming Tombs.

2. 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 68 km into the recorded legs. Next is Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian.

3. 3. Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian

   In the 1920s and 1930s, excavations in the limestone caves of Dragon Bone Hill at Zhoukoudian, south-west of Beijing, uncovered the remains of early humans who lived here hundreds of thousands of years ago. They became known as Peking Man, a population of Homo erectus, and in 1929 the Chinese archaeologist Pei Wenzhong found a nearly complete skull. The fossils caused a sensation, offering evidence of early humans in Asia and their use of fire. Then, in 1941, during the Japanese occupation, the original bones were packed for shipment to the United States and vanished; their fate remains one of the great mysteries of archaeology. The site is listed by UNESCO, and a museum displays casts and later finds.

   Read the complete Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 158 km into the recorded legs you reach Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian. Next is back through Ming Tombs.

4. 4. 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 Tongzhou Section of Tonghui Canal.

5. 5. 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 at Tongzhou Section of Tonghui Canal. That is the ride.