Page 6 - JIANGSU

1 Jiangsu Glimpses

GONG Liang:

Let the Grand Canal

Bring People a Better Life

C hinese people started to dig the Grand

Canal of China in the Spring and Au-
tumn Period (770-476 B.C.) and finished
the project in the Sui Dynasty (581-
618). The canal flourished in the Tang and Song dynasties
(9th to 11th centuries AD). During the Yuan Dynasty, the
cutoff work was completed. It consists of the Sui and Tang
Grand Canal, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and the
East Zhejiang Canal. It goes through eight provinces and
municipalities, including Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shan-
dong, Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu and Zhejiang. It links five
major water systems together, namely the Haihe River, the
Yellow River, the Huaihe River, the Yangtze River and the
Qiantang River. It is a major artery connecting the north,
south, east and west in ancient China.
After over 2,500 years' development, the Grand Canal of
China has created abundant material and spiritual wealth.
It has formed a unique canal culture, and become one of
the significant symbols of Chinese civilization. In May
2006, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal was approved
by China's State Council to be included in the sixth batch
of national key cultural relics protection units; In March
2013, the Grand Canal and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand
Canal were merged and included in the seventh batch
of national key cultural relics protection sites list; In June
2014, the Grand Canal of China was inscribed on UNES-
CO's World Heritage List.

East China's Jiangsu is the origin of the Grand Canal. The
province's Yangzhou is the leading city for applying for
Qingguo alley historic district,
Changzhou. world heritage status for the Grand Canal. The Jiangsu