The Grand Canal of China: 1300 years longest shipping canal in the world

If you ask about the greatest building of ancient Chinese civilization, then everyone without hesitation will call the Great Wall of China. But in fact, in China there is no less grandiose structure, which is also 300 years older than the Wall and which, unlike it, is still used for its intended purpose. This is the Great Channel of China - a water artery with a length of 1,782 kilometers, connecting the north and south of the country.

The geographical specificity of China lies in the fact that all the major rivers of this country flow in the latitudinal direction, from west to east and flow into the seas of the Pacific Ocean. Such waterways are very convenient when you need to get in the direction of west-east, but do not contribute to transport links between north and south. Historically, the most densely populated part of China is precisely the eastern part of the country, located between the Yangtze and the Yellow River. It was these rivers that the rulers of China decided to connect by a shipping channel, who wanted to have, in addition to the sea, a continental waterway connecting the north and south of the country. In addition, with the help of the canal, it was planned to partially solve the problem of floods on the Yellow River.

The construction of the grand canal began in the VI century BC. In eastern China, by that time several shipping channels already existed, which were partially included in the new system. After the construction was completed, the Great Chinese Canal connected the city of Shanghai, located at the mouth of the Yangtze River, with the city of Tianjin on the Haihe River, which flows into the Bohai Bay of the Yellow Sea. Part of the canal is the riverbeds and water areas of the lakes that are included in the shipping canal system. In addition to the Yangtze and the Yellow River, the canal connects the Haihe, Huaihe and Qiantang rivers.

The southern section of the canal was completed already in the 7th century AD, and the entire Great Chinese Canal with a branch to Beijing and other cities was completed by the 13th century. The length of the main Great Channel of China amounted to 1,782 kilometers, and together with additional channels to Beijing, Nantong and Hangzhou - 2,470 kilometers. There are locks on the canal (there are 21 in total), the first of which were invented back in the 10th century in order to connect sections of the canal with different water levels.

Despite its impressive history, the Great Channel of China has still not lost its relevance. In the east of the country, railways and highways have been built for a long time, but the waterway, which began to be built 2.5 thousand years ago, is still in demand.