Why this ride
On the way it passes Fujian Tulou, Huaiyuan Lou, Yanxiang Lou and Hegui Lou. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Xiacaopu Iron Production Site of Qingyang and Hegui Lou
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 573 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 8 h 15
- 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. Xiacaopu Iron Production Site of Qingyang
In the green hills of Anxi county, inland from the port city of Quanzhou in Fujian, the Xiacaopu site preserves the remains of an iron industry that flourished during the Song and Yuan dynasties, roughly from the tenth to the fourteenth centuries. Archaeologists found furnaces, slag heaps, ore-roasting pits and workshops on a hillside, evidence of large-scale production. The iron produced here was shipped down the rivers to Quanzhou and exported to Southeast Asia and beyond, and that is why the site is part of the World Heritage listing of Quanzhou, Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China, inscribed in 2021. At that time, Quanzhou was one of the largest ports in the world, visited by Arab, Persian and Indian merchants, and described by Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta.
Read the complete Xiacaopu Iron Production Site of Qingyang write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Xiacaopu Iron Production Site of Qingyang is where the day begins. Next is Fujian Tulou.
2. Fujian Tulou
Picture a giant ring of rammed earth, three or four storeys high, with almost no windows on the outside and a single heavy gate. Inside, galleries of wooden rooms face a courtyard with an ancestral hall at its heart, and up to several hundred members of one extended family once lived within those walls. That is a tulou, and the hills of south-western Fujian are dotted with them, round and square, some centuries old, many still inhabited.
Read the complete Fujian Tulou write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fujian Tulou comes up about 56 km into the recorded legs. Next is Huaiyuan Lou.
3. Huaiyuan Lou
Huaiyuan Lou is a tulou in Nanjing County, the name meaning something like a house that cherishes distant things, and it sits in a valley of tea terraces and bamboo in the same group of earthen buildings as its better-known neighbours. The lou form, a tall rectangular or square block of several storeys, differs from the round tulou, and the dwellings of this type are often built on a regular grid with the main hall facing south, as the principles of fengshui required. The orientation, the position of the gate and the placement of the well and the ancestral hall were all weighed by a geomancer before the first wall was raised.
Read the complete Huaiyuan Lou write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
At least about 200 km into the recorded legs you reach Huaiyuan Lou. Next is Yanxiang Lou.
4. Yanxiang Lou
Yanxiang Lou belongs to the group of Fujian earthen houses recognised by UNESCO, and what distinguishes it, in a region full of astonishing buildings, is its history as the home of a single prosperous family. The word lou simply means a building of several storeys, and it is used for many of the larger tulou.
Read the complete Yanxiang Lou write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Yanxiang Lou, about halfway. Next is Hegui Lou.
5. Hegui Lou
Hegui Lou is the tulou with a famous tilt. It is a five-storey earthen building in Nanjing County that has leaned to one side for decades, and it has been compared to the leaning tower of Pisa, though the cause is more modest: the foundations on one side settled, probably through water and the work of termites, and the rammed earth walls have shifted to a noticeable angle. Despite the lean, the house has stood, and the locals show it off with a mixture of pride and humour. The upper floors have been propped with timber, and the lower ones remain in use.
Read the complete Hegui Lou write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hegui Lou sits at 178 km, about halfway. Next is back through Yanxiang Lou.
6. back through Yanxiang Lou
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Yanxiang Lou write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Yanxiang Lou comes up about 327 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Huaiyuan Lou.
7. back through Huaiyuan Lou
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Huaiyuan Lou write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 371 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Huaiyuan Lou. Next is back through Fujian Tulou.
8. back through Fujian Tulou
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fujian Tulou write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Fujian Tulou, late in the day. Next is Xiacaopu Iron Production Site of Qingyang.
9. Xiacaopu Iron Production Site of Qingyang
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Xiacaopu Iron Production Site of Qingyang 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 573 km.
Leg by leg
Xiacaopu Iron Production Site of Qingyang to Fujian Tulou
Xiacaopu Iron Production Site of Qingyang → Fujian Tulou is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fujian Tulou to Huaiyuan Lou
Fujian Tulou → Huaiyuan Lou is 144 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Huaiyuan Lou to Yanxiang Lou
Huaiyuan Lou → Yanxiang Lou is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Yanxiang Lou to Hegui Lou
Yanxiang Lou → Hegui Lou is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hegui Lou to back through Yanxiang Lou
Hegui Lou → back through Yanxiang Lou is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Yanxiang Lou to back through Huaiyuan Lou
back through Yanxiang Lou → back through Huaiyuan Lou is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Huaiyuan Lou to back through Fujian Tulou
back through Huaiyuan Lou → back through Fujian Tulou is 145 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Fujian Tulou to Xiacaopu Iron Production Site of Qingyang
back through Fujian Tulou → Xiacaopu Iron Production Site of Qingyang is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.