Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks and Statue of Mani in Cao'an Temple

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks

   In the Song and Yuan centuries, roughly a thousand years ago, Quanzhou on the coast of Fujian was one of the busiest ports on the planet. Arab, Persian, Indian and Southeast Asian merchants lived here, ships loaded silk, porcelain and tea for the Indian Ocean, and Marco Polo, who knew it as Zayton, described a harbour crowded with vessels. The Zhenwu Temple stands on a small rise by the estuary of the Jin river, where officials once made sacrifices to the god of the sea before the fleets sailed, and the old docks along the shore nearby are part of the World Heritage Site inscribed in 2021 as Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China.

   Read the complete Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks is where the day begins. Next is Shihu Dock.

2. 2. Shihu Dock

   In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, Quanzhou was one of the busiest ports in the world. Arab, Persian, Indian and Italian merchants lived in the city, which Marco Polo knew as Zayton, and ships loaded with silk, porcelain and tea left for the Indian Ocean. The port stood on the Fujian coast of southern China, at the mouth of the Jin river, and the whole system of temples, mosques, bridges, docks and kiln sites was listed by UNESCO in 2021 as Quanzhou, Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China.

   Read the complete Shihu Dock write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Shihu Dock comes up about 22 km into the recorded legs. Next is Statue of Mani in Cao'an Temple.

3. 3. 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

   about 47 km into the recorded legs you reach Statue of Mani in Cao'an Temple. Next is back through Shihu Dock.

4. 4. back through Shihu Dock

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Shihu Dock write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Shihu Dock, late in the day. Next is Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks.

5. 5. Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks. That is the ride.