Suzhou - Grand Canal - March 17, 2005

The Grand Canal extends from Hangzhou to Beijing; the portion I visited was in the city of Suzhou (Su-chow). The Canal, in its heydey, was a very impressive waterway and it provided a link between the Yangtze region and Luoyang. It has been compared to the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy. Segments of it date back about 2500 years; it was started by the same emperor who authorized the construction of the Great Wall.

Our group was divided into two brown boats. The seats were narrow and cramped, not much leg room. You entered and exited by the door in the front; some of the pictures I took were taken out this very door. The windows were plastic if I remember correctly - I was still sick at this point and was more concerned with how I felt than the windows. I do remember the boat operators had a nice little side business going - they sold some souvenirs to some of the other group members with pictures of the Canal on them for a very low price (I think they had decks of cards they sold for something like fifty cents).

Back to the Canal itself. When the emperor mandated the building of the Canal, millions of workers were conscripted to build it. In some places, existing canals were used. The emperor, Yangdi, made a number of trips along the Canal until he was hanged by some members of his entourage at the city of Yangzhou.

The Canal was used mainly for transportation - people, food, and other goods - between Beijing and Hangzhou. A lot of the building materials which were used to construct the Forbidden City, for example, traveled up the Canal.

The Canal survived pretty much intact until sometime in the 19th century. During the century flooding caused major damage to the waterway and its vessels. There were also numerous battles during the century which caused resources to be used and elsewhere, and led to portions of the Canal falling into disuse and disrepair.

In the 20th century, other transportation options emerged and were used instead of the Canal.

 

Today, portions of the Canal are still in use and/or still navigable; other portions are not. The southern portion is the most likely section of the Canal to still be in use and/or navigable.