Spring scenery along section of Grand Canal in Beijing

Photo shows the scenery along the Grand Canal in Tongzhou district, Beijing. The 40-kilometer-long Beijing section of the Grand Canal opened up to navigation for tourism purposes in June 2021. (People’s Daily Online/Lu Yang)

The 1,790-kilometer-long Grand Canal is the longest man-made waterway in the world, stretching from Beijing to Hangzhou, capital of east China’s Zhejiang Province.

With a history of more than 2,000 years, the canal was first constructed during the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BCE) and was greatly expanded during the Sui Dynasty (581-618 CE).

An artery between the north and south of the country, the canal has played an important role in promoting economic and cultural development and exchanges in regions along the waterway, especially in terms of the development of industry and agriculture.