Visitors take photos of the Gongchen Bridge over the Grand Canal in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, June 12, 2024. With a history of more than 2,500 years, the Grand Canal, connecting Beijing and Hangzhou in east China's Zhejiang Province, served as a significant transportation artery in ancient China. The canal was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in China in June 2014. Recent years, local authorities have prioritized the protection of the site while continuously promoting the protection of cultural heritage, the reuse of industrial relics and the inheritance of intangible heritage culture, gradually building the bank area of the Grand Canal into a region featuring rich culture, nice environment and thriving tourism. (Xinhua/Weng Xinyang)

For many Chinese, ancient poetry verses are on the tip of the tongue whenever the name of Yangzhou is uttered. Enchanted, countless poets such as Li Bai, Du Mu, and Su Dongpo penned poems, weaving their admiration for the city in the vibrant tapestry of Chinese poetry.

The Grand Canal, an umbilical cord connecting China's North and South, played an indispensable role in transporting literati to Yangzhou, fanning its fame through popular verses, which in turn, speak volumes about Yangzhou's prosperity and popularity in ancient China, particularly during Tang and Song (618-1279) dynasties.

Quietly sitting north of the Yangtze River in East China's Jiangsu province, Yangzhou is the starting point of Hangou Canal, also known as the ancient section of the Grand Canal, the first canal in Chinese history. It was dug by King Fuchai of the Wu State during the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), as a means to ship supplies north in case his forces should engage the northern states.

Historians believe that the Hangou Canal gave birth to Yangzhou.

Fuchai's Hangou Canal was later massively expanded by Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty (581-618). The ambitious ruler ordered the excavation of a watercourse with Luoyang in Henan province, the main Sui capital as the center, reaching southward to Yuhang Hangzhou in Zhejiang province and meandering northward to Zhuojun (today's Beijing area).

The massive engineering project, which is believed to have cost his throne, stretched more than 2,700 kilometers, forming a shape evocative of the Chinese character "人" (people) on the map and linking five of China's main river basins, including the Yellow River and the Yangtze.

More than six centuries later, Kublai Khan established the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) and moved China's capital to Beijing. To expedite the country's south-north water transportation, the Yuan emperor decreed to have the Grand Canal straightened and revamped, eliminating the need for the canal arm flowing west to Henan's Kaifeng or Luoyang, both being capitals in former dynasties.

A summit section was dug across the foothills of the Shandong massif, shortening the canal's overall length by as much as 700 km, making the total length about 1,800 km and linking Hangzhou and Beijing with a direct north-south waterway for the first time.

The Grand Canal is widely viewed as the backbone of the ancient Chinese empire's inland communication system, transporting grain and strategic raw materials, and supplying rice to feed the population, playing an important role in ensuring the country's economic prosperity and stability.

The Grand Canal, the world's earliest and longest artificial waterway, was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its outstanding universal value in 2014.

To commemorate the 10th anniversary of its UNESCO listing, a large-scale themed campaign aimed at further promoting the Grand Canal and cementing its standing in the national consciousness, was launched in Yangzhou on Saturday.

The last decade has also witnessed the canal culture thrive in Yangzhou, beckoning tourists from far and wide to the city entwined with the Grand Canal.

In 2013, archeologists confirmed that two humble tombs found in Yangzhou's Hanjiang district belonged to Sui emperor Yang Guang and his queen.

A park featuring a museum was built on the burial site of the emperor and opened this March. Visitors can delve into the mystery surrounding the excavation and verification of the emperor's mausoleum. They can also learn about Yang's long-lasting ties with Yangzhou, known as Jiangdu during the Sui Dynasty.

"When Yang Guang was a prince, he was designated to govern Jiangdu for up to 10 years. That's why he had a deep bond with Yangzhou," said Gu Feng, a former head of the Yangzhou Cultural Heritage Bureau. "That Yangzhou enjoyed a high political status in ancient China was largely associated with Emperor Yang Guang as he paid grand visits to Yangzhou after he ascended to the throne."

For a panoramic and immersive view of the Grand Canal, the Yangzhou China Grand Canal Museum, which has become a must-see attraction since its opening in June 2021, is unmissable.

On display are over 10,000 pieces (sets) of various cultural relics featured in 11 exhibition halls, reflecting the history of the Grand Canal from the Spring and Autumn Period to the present day. These exhibits comprehensively showcase the canal culture across the entire watercourse and throughout different historical periods, said Zheng Jing, the museum's director.

For example, the largest exhibit in the museum is the cross-section of the old course of the Bianhe River, extracted near Kaifeng in Henan province. It measures 25.7 meters long and 8 meters high, occupying an entire wall. Marked with different lines, the cross section vividly showcases the change of the canal's depth from the Sui and Tang dynasties to the end of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) when it was almost in disuse.

Widely acclaimed for its tourist-oriented exhibitions featuring cutting-edge multi-media technologies, the museum offers tourists an immersive, interactive experience of the Grand Canal. For instance, teenagers can participate in a room escape game at the museum to experience the thrill of solving a mystery while learning more about the hydraulic engineering wonder.

The Sanwan Scenic Area, where the museum is located, is also an impressive sight of the Grand Canal.

Sanwan, literally three turns, means that the canal turns three times here. The curvy section was an ingenious design by Guo Guangfu, a local governor during the Ming Dynasty, to treat canal transport issues. Because Yangzhou's terrain is higher in the north, when upstream water flowed through the old Sanwan area, located in the city's south, it cascaded rapidly, making it hard to retain, often causing boats to run aground.

In 1597, Guo led locals to turn the waterway, which was about 200 meters, into three bends running up to 1.7 kilometers. Thanks to the newly added bends, water flowed much more gently here and water level increased, making it much easier for water transportation.

However, Sanwan was once heavily polluted by agrochemical and pharmaceutical factories in this area.

To revive the beauty of the Grand Canal, the Yangzhou government started treating pollution and restoring ecology in 2014. Combined efforts including relocating factories, dredging river channels, and planting aquatic plants, paid off. In 2018, the Sanwan Scenic Area was rated as a national AAAA-level tourist attraction.

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