Why this ride
A 370 km round trip from Tongzhou - roughly 5 h 19 in the saddle. The stops in between: Summer Palace, Ming Tombs, Old Beijing City Section of Tonghui Canal and Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Tongzhou Section of Tonghui Canal and Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 370 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 19
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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
Tongzhou Section of Tonghui Canal → Summer Palace
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 45 km. The line follows the shore because there is nowhere else for it to go.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 45 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
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 Summer Palace.
2. 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 comes up 51 km in. 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
101 km in you reach Ming Tombs. Next is Old Beijing City Section of Tonghui Canal.
4. Old Beijing City Section of Tonghui Canal
The Grand Canal of China is the longest man-made waterway in the world, and for centuries it carried the grain, silk and taxes of the south to the capital in the north. The Tonghui section, built in 1292 by the engineer Guo Shoujing under the Yuan dynasty, brought water from springs in the hills to the north-west of Beijing and gave the canal its final link to the city, running from the capital to Tongzhou, where barges unloaded. The old Beijing section follows the line of the river through the city, passing lakes, bridges and old neighbourhoods, and it forms part of the UNESCO listing of the Grand Canal, listed in 2014.
Read the complete Old Beijing City 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
Old Beijing City Section of Tonghui Canal, about halfway. Next is Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian.
5. 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
Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian sits at 203 km, about halfway. Next is back through Old Beijing City Section of Tonghui Canal.
6. back through Old Beijing City Section of Tonghui Canal
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Old Beijing City 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 Old Beijing City Section of Tonghui Canal comes up 253 km in. Next is back through Ming Tombs.
7. 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
304 km in you reach back through Ming Tombs. Next is back through Summer Palace.
8. 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, late in the day. Next is Tongzhou Section of Tonghui Canal.
9. 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
The route ends here after 370 km.
Leg by leg
Tongzhou Section of Tonghui Canal to Summer Palace
Tongzhou Section of Tonghui Canal → Summer Palace is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Summer Palace to Ming Tombs
Summer Palace → Ming Tombs is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ming Tombs to Old Beijing City Section of Tonghui Canal
Ming Tombs → Old Beijing City Section of Tonghui Canal is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Old Beijing City Section of Tonghui Canal to Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian
Old Beijing City Section of Tonghui Canal → Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian is 65 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian to back through Old Beijing City Section of Tonghui Canal
Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian → back through Old Beijing City Section of Tonghui Canal is 65 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Old Beijing City Section of Tonghui Canal to back through Ming Tombs
back through Old Beijing City Section of Tonghui Canal → back through Ming Tombs is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Ming Tombs to back through Summer Palace
back through Ming Tombs → back through Summer Palace is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Summer Palace to Tongzhou Section of Tonghui Canal
back through Summer Palace → Tongzhou Section of Tonghui Canal is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.