The Grand Canal is a system of interconnected canals linking various major rivers in North and East China, serving as an important waterborne transport infrastructure between the north and the south during Medieval and premodern China. It is the longest artificial waterway in the world and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The canal in Beijing, by the Wanning Bridge.
The Yongle Emperor (r. 1402–1424) restored the Grand Canal in the Ming era.
Grand Canal. Drawing by William Alexander, draughtsman of the Macartney Embassy to China in 1793.
The Qianlong Emperor's Southern Inspection Tour, Scroll Six: Entering Suzhou along the Grand Canal dated 1770.
Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management or for conveyancing water transport vehicles. They carry free, calm surface flow under atmospheric pressure, and can be thought of as artificial rivers.
The Alter Strom, in the sea resort of Warnemünde, Germany
The Royal Canal in Ireland
Small boat canals such as the Basingstoke Canal fuelled the industrial revolution in much of Europe and the United States.
Bridge on the Naviglio Grande, in the town of Cassinetta di Lugagnano, in Italy
