The Grand Canal (大运河) is the mother river of Yangzhou. Today it is still an important way for people to t. In the year AD 605, Emperor Yang ordered the canal to be dug. Digging such a long canal proved to be very d. 3.6 million people worked on it and in less than a year many of them lost their lives. When the construction(工程) was c, the journey from the north to the south became more direct. It was much e for Emperor Yang to visit Yangzhou and he paidthree visits to the city d his life. In the year AD 618, Emperor Yang was killed by his followers in one of his palaces in Yangzhou, and the Sui Dynasty e. Everyone complains that the Sui Dynasty ended because of the Grand Canal.
However, even today the Grand Canal s plays an important role in travel. It is the l canal in the world so far. It r from Beijing to Hangzhou, covering a distanceof nearly 1,800 kilometres and joining five r including the Yellow River and the Yangtze River. Every day, ships go up and down the canal, carrying things between the north and the south.
