2008 Discount Yangtze River Cruise Starting from 290 USD p.p.! !
THE GRAND
CANAL
------Judy
Bonavia
The Grand Canal zigzags some 2,500
kilometres (1,554 miles) down the length of
eastern 
China and remains the longest man--made
waterway in the world. In ancient times it was
crucial in the transportation of grain from
the fertile Yangtze delta to the relatively
barren north, and in developing communications
across the vast territory that the waterway
system served. From the Yellow River valley,
from which Chinese civilization sprang, culture
and learning spread southwards along the canal,
until by the Tang dynasty (618-907) such cities
as Yangzhou and Hangzhou had themselves become
centres of art and philosophy.
The first link in this canal system
was constructed in the fifth century BC by the
King of Wu to facilitate his invasion of the
Kingdom of Ji to the north.Other canals were
constructed as political and economic demands
arose. It was the Sui emperor Yangdi who, in
the seventh century, set about creating an inter-communicating
system linking his capital of Luoyang with the
rice lands of the Yangtze River plains. The
network was extended to the northern city, later
called Bejing, to supply his armies, then fighting
the Koreans. Tens of thousands of men and women
were conscripted to labour on these projects,and
to plant trees along the banks.
Ma Shumou, the emperor's cruel overseer,
was known as Mahu--'Ma the Barbarous'. 
Yangzhou
mothers to this day chastise their children
by threat-ending 'Mahu will get you'. It was
reputed that during the building of the Grand
Canal he demanded a daily meal of a steamed
two--year old child.
During the Tang dynasty (618--907)
over 300,000 tons of grain were shipped northwards
annually under the escort of 120,000 soldiers.
When the Mongol Yuan dynasty (1279--1368)
established its capital in present--day Bejing,
the need for a rapid supply of grain, unimpeded
by pirates along the sea route, led to the digging
of a direct canal northwards,which shortened
the route by some 700 to 800 kilometres (435
to 500 miles).The Reduced length of 1,782 kilometres
(1,108 miles) was bordered by a paved
highway allowing travellers to cover 
the distance
in 40 days.
Throughout its history the canal
supplied not only the essentials of life but
also the luxuries. Scholars and officials traveled
on it to and from the capital for imperial examinations
or affairs of state. Emperor Yangdi's retinue,
in magnificent boats styled as dragons, tigers
and birds, was pulled by 80,000 trackers along
it.
During the Qing dynasty (1644--1911)
official corruption, flooding and silting caused
the gradual decline of the Grand Canal. Twelve
thousand bridges span the canal, which in recent
years has been dredged and repaired.Water from
the Yangtze is being diverted along this age-old
channel for irrigation of the northern plains
and the cities of Beijing and Tianjin.
Stretches of it are now open to tourism.
• ZhengJiang
• What
to See in ZhengJiang (1)
• What
to See in ZhengJiang (2)
• The Grand Canal
