Grand Canal (China)

The Grand Canal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the longest canal or artificial river in the world and a famous tourist destination. Starting at Beijing, it passes through Tianjin and the provinces of Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the city of Hangzhou, linking the Yellow River and Yangtze River. The oldest parts of the canal date back to the 5th century BC, but the various sections were first connected during the Sui dynasty . The Yuan and Ming dynasties significantly rebuilt the canal and altered its route to supply their capital Beijing.The total length of the Grand Canal is 1776km. Its greatest height is reached in the mountains of Shandong, at a summit of 42 m . Ships in Chinese canals did not have trouble reaching higher elevations after the pound lock was invented in the 10th century, during the Song dynasty, by the government official and engineer Qiao Weiyue. The canal has been admired by many throughout history including Japanese monk Ennin, Persian historian Rashid al-Din, Korean official Choe Bu, and Italian missionary Matteo Ricci .