Grand Canal
China's longest canal is the Grand Canal, stretching more than 1,700 kilometers from Beijing in the north to Hangzhou in the south. It is the world's longest man-made waterway and was built over the course of centuries beginning in the fourth century BCE. Major work was undertaken on it during the Sui dynasty (581–618) and the Tang dynasty (618–907); under the Yuan dynasty (1279–1368) the course of the canal was shifted. All China's major rivers run west to east, but the Grand Canal runs north to south, connecting the Chang (Yangtze) River in the south with the Huang (Yellow) River in the north and providing a valuable alternative to overland or sea transport of goods.
The canal's primary use during the Sui and Tang dynasties was to bring grain grown in the fertile south to expanding cities in the north. It became a major trade route, with goods and people flowing in both directions. One important innovation was the invention of the pound lock in the tenth century. The pound lock allowed boats to move along waterways of different levels; the Grand Canal, for instance, rises more than 40 meters above sea level over its course. Currently there are twenty-four locks on the Grand Canal.
The Huang River's flooding and silting have always caused problems for the canal, but it was regularly maintained and used into the twentieth century, when the rise of coastal ports and railroad transportation led sections to fall into disuse. In the 1950s much of the canal was reopened for use, and it is again a major trade route as well as a tourist attraction.
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