Most people have heard of the GreatWall of China, but not many foreigners know about the Grand Canal. Thisman-made waterway—known in China as DaYunhe —is 1,700 kilometers long and some parts ofit are more than 2,000 years old. It1thenorth of China with Hangzhou, a city in the southern part of the country. It'sthe longest man-made waterway in the world.
It was built as a2to transport grain from the rich agricultural land in China's southto cities in the north. In fact, it's not one canal, but a system of canals andrivers linked3. It's still an important part of thetransport system in China. Thousands of boats use it every day to transportgrain and many other types of cargo.
Now the Chinese government is doing newwork on the Grand Canal. It is making parts of it4, so bigger ships can use it. The canal will also help to move water.There is a lot of5in the south of China, but not (asmuch) in the north. The canal will carry millions of liters of water from thesouth to the north.
The Grand Canal is much6thanthe Great Wall, and not very many tourists visit(it). But it's possible to goon a cruise along some of the oldest parts of the canal. Passengers on these cruisessee beautiful parts of China that other visitors don't see.
