China is not just a great prosperous modern country today. It has been for many centuries, millennia in the past, when it managed to build works unseen until then and also long unsurpassed. Works such as the Grand Canal, which provided the country with transport services over vast distances by water and, hand in hand with that, prosperity and well-being for its people. And while today it is once again enthralling the world with its skill and many engineering marvels, it has not forgotten its history. As in the city of Yangzhou. Most large Chinese cities have a centre full of skyscrapers, but also residential peripheries with tall buildings up to 30 storeys high. But Yangzhou is different. Since ancient times, this city has been known as the "City of Green Willows", and indeed urban greenery plays a very important role here. Yangzhou is much more reminiscent of European cities. The buildings here are not nearly as tall as elsewhere. Instead, the usually four- to six-storey buildings in the city's classic streets offer a familiar atmosphere for Europeans.
The best environment
Although it is not a small city from our point of view, with a population of around five million, it is a smaller city by Chinese standards. But even a tourist doesn't feel like he's in a city of millions. And that's mainly because of the ubiquitous parks. The city boasts nearly 45% of green space in the built-up areas. There are 20.2 square metres of green space per inhabitant. In 2006, Yangzhou was awarded the "UN-Habitat Scroll of Honour Award", i.e. the "UN Environment Award". At the same time, this city is known as the "Food Capital". The local cuisine is delicious, but probably the most famous from here is fried rice.
Yangzhou is also known as the "Canal Capital of the World" because the Yangtze River and the Huai River meet in its territory and both rivers feed the water of the Grand Canal. The rivers also feed a system of lakes and canals, and the water area thus accounts for 26.3 % of the city's total area. But Yangzhou also has an eye-catching ancient district, the old city, covering an area of 5.09 square kilometers from the Ming and Qing dynasties. It is one of the best preserved in eastern China.
The Grand Canal
What brought the city fame and fortune in the past was mainly the Grand Canal. Since 486 BC, when King Fuchai of the Wu family built the Han Gou Canal and constructed Han City, Yangzhou has shared a symbiotic relationship with the Grand Canal, with a history spanning more than 2,500 years.
Since then, the Chinese have gradually built more canals to speed up the movement of goods, but as time passed and the environment changed, some canals disappeared and others changed route. Eventually, however, in 605 AD, Emperor Yang Guang, the second emperor of the Sui Dynasty, ordered the excavation of the Grand Canal to meet the political, economic and military needs of a unified nation. He combined the various canals into one great whole. In 611 AD, the Grand Canal was completed and became the main thoroughfare between southern and northern China. This created a series of gigantic works that formed the largest and most extensive set of building projects in the world before the Industrial Revolution.
The Grand Canal reached a new peak during the Yuan Dynasty (13th century), when it created a unified inland navigation network consisting of more than 2,000 km of artificial waterways connecting the five most important basins in China, including the Yellow River and the Yangtze.
The Grand Canal is a model when it comes to dealing with difficult natural conditions, which is reflected in the many structures that are fully adapted to the diversity and complexity of the circumstances. This includes innovative early examples of hydraulic techniques, locks and water crossings. It also bears witness to specific know-how in the construction of dams, weirs and bridges, and the original and ingenious use of materials such as stone and rammed earth, and the use of mixed materials (e.g. clay and straw). All of this together shows the incredible skills and sophistication of ancient China.
Cultural heritage
The Grand Canal continued to function as an important thoroughfare in modern history. However, factories and production centres were often built along it rather than commercial centres as in the past, destroying its water and the surrounding environment. In the 1980s and 1990s, the Sanwan area was the largest industrial zone in Yangzhou, with more than 80 factories producing pesticides, leather products and cement on both sides of the canal, leading to deteriorating water quality, contamination of waterways and significant environmental problems.
In early 2010, the first "rebirth" of the Sanwan area came when local authorities identified its planning and development as a major initiative to improve the ecological environment of southeastern Yangzhou. The first step was the relocation of 89 industrial enterprises, which were gradually closed or relocated. In addition, 680 mu (45 hectares) of wetlands were restored. In September 2017, a brand new Sanwan area was unveiled, transforming from an "urban scar" into a scenic ecological wetland.
In 2014, 27 preserved sections and 58 historical sites along its course were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, including 10 sites and six sections of the canal directly in Yangzhou, giving impetus to a new era of cultural heritage protection and utilization. In 2019, the construction of a large modern Grand Canal Museum began, opening to the public in 2021. And since then, millions of visitors have visited it every year.
A museum full of experiences
The Grand Canal Museum covers an area of nearly 79,000 square metres and features an extensive exhibition that encompasses all periods, regions and aspects of the enriching life that the Grand Canal provided. The museum offers 13 uniquely styled exhibition spaces. In the first, you will find a cross-section of the history of the Grand Canal, whose layers of mud, for example, offer archaeologists a perfect glimpse into the past through preserved pieces of pottery or tools. Each layer signifies a specific period in history. You will also find illustrative replicas of important buildings around the canal, bridges, and models of villages and towns.
Breathtaking is the hall called "Boats on the Canal", which combines physical models of boats with multimedia interactive equipment and projections to offer a stunning experience. The 17-metre-high space features a full-scale replica of a Shafei ship from the Kangxi reign (1622-1722). Scenes are projected on the surrounding walls, creating a vivid image of the city at that time. Visitors to the exhibition hall feel as if they are boarding a real ship on the canal and sailing down the river. In the hall in front of it, in turn, a total of 78 ship models are displayed, which are a form of China's intangible cultural heritage and depict the development of shipbuilding on the Grand Canal.
The museum also includes a new hall called "Urban Prosperity along the Grand Canal". It is a full-scale replica of an old busy city street, with a cobbled road, ancient houses and real shops. It thus combines a museum-style historical exhibition with live performances to offer visitors a comprehensive experience of touring, participating, interacting, eating and shopping.
Industrial future
But it is not only the Grand Canal and tourists that bring prosperity and fame to the city. Its location puts the city at the crossroads of the land and maritime Silk Road. It has worked in the past and continues to work today.
In the 1990s, Yangzhou's industry thrived, with economic growth driven by eight major sectors - automotive, shipbuilding, chemical, garment, diesel engines, containers, air-conditioning, and other specialized industries. This phenomenon has been called the "Yangzhou phenomenon" of large-scale economic development. Since its administrative separation from Taizhou City in 1996, Yangzhou has experienced strong industrial growth.
It now boasts three mature manufacturing clusters with output value exceeding RMB 100 billion: automobiles and auto parts, high-end equipment and new energy equipment. With more than 1,700 high-tech enterprises and more than 1,400 foreign-invested enterprises, the total import and export volume of Yangzhou exceeds RMB 100 billion. The per capita disposable income reached RMB 47,717, representing a year-on-year increase of 6.4 %. These key indicators demonstrate the steady progress and positive trends in the city's development.
The urban area includes Baoying District, two county towns (Gaoyou and Yizheng), three districts (Jiangdu, Hanjiang and Guangling) and three functional zones. Economic and technological development zone, ecological scientific zone and agricultural development zone. Yangzhou is thus a city with the best living environment, in addition to a city with a bright future that comes hand in hand with progress and innovation.
Helena KOČOVÁ
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