Why this ride
From Yongning it runs 81 km to Yongning; allow about 1 h 34 of riding. It goes by way of Statue of Mani in Cao'an Temple, Site of Shunji Bridge and back through Statue of Mani in Cao'an Temple.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Wanshou Pagoda and Site of Shunji Bridge
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 81 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 34
- 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. Wanshou Pagoda
On a hill above the coast south of Quanzhou, in China's Fujian province, a slender stone pagoda has watched the sea for some nine centuries. The Wanshou Pagoda on Baogai mountain, near the town of Shishi, was built in the Southern Song dynasty and served as a landmark for sailors approaching the port of Quanzhou, then one of the busiest harbours in the world. Locals call it the Aunt Pagoda, after a legend that tells of a woman who climbed the hill every day to wait for her husband to return from the sea.
Read the complete Wanshou Pagoda write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Wanshou Pagoda is where the day begins. Next is Statue of Mani in Cao'an Temple.
2. Statue of Mani in Cao'an Temple
Hidden in the hills behind the coast of Fujian is a small stone temple with a figure that should not exist. Cao'an is the last surviving Manichaean temple in the world, and its main statue shows Mani, the third-century Persian prophet who founded a religion that once stretched from Spain to China, in the form of a serene Buddha-like figure with long white hair and eyebrows. It was carved in the fourteenth century, during the Yuan dynasty, from a single piece of local stone, and its identity was recognised only in the twentieth century, when scholars matched it with texts.
Read the complete Statue of Mani in Cao'an Temple write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Statue of Mani in Cao'an Temple comes up about 24 km into the recorded legs. Next is Site of Shunji Bridge.
3. Site of Shunji Bridge
The bridges of Quanzhou were as astonishing as its port. In the Song dynasty, when the city grew rich on trade with Arabia, India and South-East Asia, its builders spanned the estuaries with long stone bridges set on huge foundations of boulders and oyster shells, and some of them are still standing. The Shunji Bridge, whose site is on our list, belongs to this tradition, and what remains is a place beside the river where engineers once solved a problem that seemed impossible: how to build a stone bridge across a tidal estuary with strong currents.
Read the complete Site of Shunji Bridge write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 44 km into the recorded legs you reach Site of Shunji Bridge. Next is back through Statue of Mani in Cao'an Temple.
4. back through Statue of Mani in Cao'an Temple
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Statue of Mani in Cao'an Temple write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Statue of Mani in Cao'an Temple, late in the day. Next is Wanshou Pagoda.
5. Wanshou Pagoda
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Wanshou Pagoda write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Wanshou Pagoda. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Wanshou Pagoda to Statue of Mani in Cao'an Temple
Wanshou Pagoda → Statue of Mani in Cao'an Temple is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Statue of Mani in Cao'an Temple to Site of Shunji Bridge
Statue of Mani in Cao'an Temple → Site of Shunji Bridge is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Site of Shunji Bridge to back through Statue of Mani in Cao'an Temple
Site of Shunji Bridge → back through Statue of Mani in Cao'an Temple is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Statue of Mani in Cao'an Temple to Wanshou Pagoda
back through Statue of Mani in Cao'an Temple → Wanshou Pagoda is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.