China is famous for its famous wall stretching for several thousand kilometers, as well as a channel connecting the whole country. The latter is one of the oldest existing man-made hydraulic structures in the world.
General information
The Great Canal of China is a monumental building that has been under construction for almost 2000 years. The beginning of its construction dates back to the V century BC, and the completion - to the XIII century BC. This is the largest water feature linking the four largest cities (Nantong, Hangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing), is included in the UNESCO register.
Initially, the canal was used to transport grain crops from the most fertile agricultural areas, the Yellow River and Yangtze River valleys, to the capital. Grain was also used to provide food to the standing army. It begins in the north, in Beijing, and ends in the south, in Hangzhou.
This shipping channel in China is the largest structure in the world connecting the largest Chinese ports of Shanghai and Tianjin, as well as being the main means of communication between the southern and northern regions of the eastern part of the country.
Specifications
The length of the canal is 1782 kilometers, and the total length with branches to the cities of Hangzhou, Nantong and Beijing is 2470 kilometers. From 2 to 3 meters is the depth of the fairway. The channel has 21 gateways. The maximum carrying capacity is about 10 million tons annually.
The channel width varies between 40-3500 meters (the narrowest part is in the provinces of Hebei and Shandong - 40 m, the widest part in Shanghai - 3500 m). It is known that one of the fast and convenient modes of transport in antiquity was water. It is thanks to such a water artery that China has secured stable trade relations within the country for centuries.
The Great Channel of China is the longest and oldest artificial river in the world.
Short story
The channel passes through the cities of Tianjin and Beijing, as well as through the provinces of Hebei, Jiangsu, Shandong, Zhejiang. This man-made miracle connects the Yellow River, Haihe, Huaihe, Qiantang and Yangtze. A long time ago, more than 2 thousand 400 years ago (Chunqiu era), the kingdom of W, fighting for the central plain, went into war on the northern kingdom of Qi. Wu's kingdom laid a canal near the city of Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, carrying the Yangtze water into the Yellow River. Then the artery began to lengthen both in the north and in the south. Particularly active work was carried out during the reign of the Sui and Yuan dynasties. In the end, the modern famous Beijing-Hangzhou canal was formed. Many sections of the artificial river include former natural lakes and rivers, while others are artificial arteries. However, the bulk of the water falls on natural reservoirs.
This amazing building was a navigable artery, thanks to which state and military food was transported to the palace of the emperor and to the military district during the reign of all dynasties. Since ancient times, the canal has not only had important transport significance, but also connected the internal economy of the North and South.
Back in the 19th century, river transportation of goods was significant for China, but after the construction of the Tianjin-Nanjing railway, its role gradually decreased. In addition, after changing the direction of the Yellow River (due to insufficient supply of water to a part of the territory of Shandong province), there was a cessation of vessels from south to north. Although the water volumes in the Jiangsu section are relatively large and, accordingly, the conditions for the passage of vessels are relatively favorable, only small boats began to accept the canal.
More about the reign of Emperor Yang-di
It is known that the canal was built and used in separate sections in different areas and at very different time periods. However, only in the 7th century, during the reign of Emperor Yang-di (Sui Dynasty), a systematic unification of individual canals into a single transport water system was made.
For Yang-di, it was important to establish uninterrupted transportation of the rice crop from the most fertile area of the Yangtze River (north-west of the state) to the capital. It was also important for providing the army with food. At that time, more than 3 million peasants were forced to participate in the construction of the Great Channel of China under the control of many soldiers. During the work (six years), about half of the workers died from poor working conditions and hunger.
As a result, already since 735, about 150 million kilograms of grain was annually transported along the canal along with many other food and industrial goods (porcelain, cotton, etc.). All this contributed to the further prosperity of the Chinese economy.
Present and future
In the recent past, the Great Chinese Channel was deepened and expanded, modern ports and gateways were built. The conditions for navigation of water transport began to improve, and the length of the seasonal shipping lane reached 1,100 kilometers.
Soon south of Pi County (Jiangsu Province) , ships with a displacement of about 500 tons will be able to receive more than 660 km of the fairway. And in the near future, the Beijing-Hangzhou canal will be a water artery from south to north.
Finally
When transportation by rail was organized, the Great Chinese Canal, which connected the Yangtze and Yellow River, gradually began to lose its former significance.
Today, only the section from Hangzhou to Jining is navigable, and the southern and central sections are now mainly used for transporting coal from mines (Shandong and Jiangsu regions). The rest of the canal was damaged by accumulated dirt, and its northern sections were completely dry.