The Grand Canal, a vast waterway connecting the northern and southern parts of China, was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014.

The Grand Canal goes back 1,300 years and a part of its dates back to the 5th century BC. It starts in Beijing and ends in Hangzhou, passing through the city of Tianjin and Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. It links China's two longest rivers, the Yellow and the Yangtze, and has a total length of 1,794 kilometers.

In olden days, traffic on land depended on men and animals and was costly, slow, and small in scale, so large cargo was usually moved by water. The Grand Canal was originally intended for grain and luxuries; later, merchants began using it for commodities, turning the corridor into a prosperous economic belt.