Different sections of the Grand Canal

It took six years for the Sui Dynasty to build the Grand Canal, linking all the canals alongside it and connecting the Haihe, Yellow, Huaihe, Yangtze and Qiangtangjiang rivers. With a total length of 1,794 kilometers, the Grand Canal traverses Beijing and Tianjin municipalities, Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.

In the southern section of the canal, the slope is gentle and the water, plentiful (from 7-11 feet high at low levels, to 13 feet at high levels). Between Suzhou and Jinjiang the canal is often over 100 feet wide, and its sides are faced with stone in many places. It is spanned by fine stone bridges, and near its banks are many memorial arches and lofty pagodas.

In the central portion of the canal, which is between Jinjiang and Qingjiangpu, where it crosses the dry channel that marked the course of the Yellow River before 1852, the current is strong and difficult to ascend when traveling northwards. This part of the canal skirts several lakes and is fed by the Huaihe River . The region lying west of the canal is higher than its bed while the eastern region is lower. The two regions are known respectively as Shanghe ("above the river") and Xiahe ("below the river"). Waste weirs opening on the Xiahe (one of the great rice-producing areas in China) discharge surplus water during flood seasons.

The northern and considerably the longest section of the canal extends from the old bed of the Yellow River to Tianjin. It largely utilizes existing rivers and follows their original paths. Between Xingjiangpu and the present course of the Yellow River, the canal trends northwestwards, skirting the highlands of Shandong. In this region it passes through a series of lagoons, which in summer form the lake Zhouyang. North of the lake on the east banks of the canal, is the City of Ziningzhou. About 25 miles north of it is the highest level reached by the canal in the town of Nanwang. Here, the Wenshui River enters the canal from the east, and about 30 miles further north is the Yellow River.

The Yellow River passage to the canal north of this stream is very difficult. Frequently, the waters are either too low or the current is too strong to permit a passage. From this point, the canal passes through a well-wooded and hilly county west of Dongping Zhou and east of Dongchang Fu. At Linjing Zhou it is joined at a right angle by Weishui River in the midst of the city. Up to this point, ie, from Qingjiagbu to Linjing Zhou (over 300 miles apart), navigation is difficult and the water supply is often insufficient.

Below the junction, the river again becomes easily navigable. Crossing the frontier into Zhili between Dezhou and Zangzou, which the canal passes to the west, it joins the Beihe River at Tianjin with waters from Geduo River in Qing Jian.

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