Why this ride
A 354 km round trip from Biyang - roughly 5 h 07 in the saddle. On the way it passes Mount Huangshan, Hongcun, back through Hongcun and back through Mount Huangshan.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Xidi and Mount Huangshan
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 354 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 07
- 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. Xidi
Xidi is one of the loveliest villages in China, and it sits in a green basin in southern Anhui, forty kilometres or so from the Yellow Mountains. The houses are built in the Huizhou style, with white-plastered walls, grey tiled roofs and tall horse-head gables that stand up like steps against the sky, and carved wooden screens and brick doorways show the wealth of the merchants who built them. UNESCO lists Xidi together with nearby Hongcun as two villages that preserve the look of rural China in the Ming and Qing dynasties.
Read the complete Xidi write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Xidi is where the day begins. Next is Mount Huangshan.
2. Mount Huangshan
Huangshan, the Yellow Mountain, rises in the south of Anhui province from a flat region of tea fields and villages, and its granite peaks, gnarled pines and seas of cloud have made it one of the most painted mountains in China. The highest of its seventy-two peaks, Lotus Peak, stands at about 1,864 metres. What makes the mountain special is the combination of tall, sharp, bare rock and the pine trees that grow out of the cracks, shaped by wind and weather into strange, twisted forms, each of which has a name, such as the Welcoming Guest Pine. UNESCO listed it in 1990.
Read the complete Mount Huangshan write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Mount Huangshan comes up about 70 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hongcun.
3. Hongcun
From above, Hongcun is said to look like an ox, and the people who built it in the Southern Song and later planned it that way on purpose. A stream, channelled through the village, makes the ox's intestines, two small bridges are the legs, a moon-shaped pond at the centre is its stomach and the hills around are its body, and a pair of ancient trees at the entrance are the horns. It is an engineer's dream as well as a feng shui chart, because the water channels run through the lanes to every house, bringing fresh water for washing and putting out fires, and the Moon Pond is a reflecting pool that mirrors the white walls and curved gables.
Read the complete Hongcun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 124 km into the recorded legs you reach Hongcun.
4. Mount Huangshan
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mount Huangshan write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Mount Huangshan, about halfway. Next is back through Hongcun.
5. back through Hongcun
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hongcun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Hongcun sits at 138 km, about halfway. Next is back through Mount Huangshan.
6. back through Mount Huangshan
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mount Huangshan write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Mount Huangshan comes up about 286 km into the recorded legs. Next is Xidi.
7. Xidi
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Xidi write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Xidi closes the day.
Leg by leg
Xidi to Mount Huangshan
Xidi → Mount Huangshan is 70 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mount Huangshan to Hongcun
Mount Huangshan → Hongcun is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hongcun to Mount Huangshan
Hongcun → Mount Huangshan is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mount Huangshan to back through Hongcun
Mount Huangshan → back through Hongcun is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hongcun to back through Mount Huangshan
back through Hongcun → back through Mount Huangshan is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Mount Huangshan to Xidi
back through Mount Huangshan → Xidi is 70 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.