Sunday, August 7, 2011

[www.keralites.net] The Grand Canal of China

 

People know about China Grate Wall but many don't know about the Grand Canal!

The Grand Canal of China

The Grand Canal of China, the longest man-made waterway in the world (by far), and the earliest (also by far), begins in HangZhou in East China (south from Beijing) and terminates in Beijing, running for a total length of 1,794 kilometers. Digging started in the late Spring and Autumn period (about the 5th century BC) and it was twice extended and widened, once during the Sui period and again in the Yuan Dynasty.

Because China's terrain slopes eastward-from the highlands and mountains in the west to the hinterlands on the shore of the Pacific, all the major rivers in China run west to east. The Grand Canal was the sole waterway for south-north transportation and communication. During the Yuan Dynasty, the docks at JiShuiTan in Beijing, then called the Greater Capital (DaDu), were crowded by boats loaded with grain from the south. 'Ji' is an ancient (probably the first) name for Beijing, dating from around 1000 BC; 'shui' means 'water'.

After the mid-19th century, motor roads and railways gradually replaced the Grand Canal for transportation. However, it is safe to say that without the Grand Canal, there would have been no prosperity for Beijing in ancient times.



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