China´s Grand Canal Overseas Tourism Promotion Season 2022:
“Thousands of years of canals reflect ancient and modern”
Tianjin Section of the Grand Canal
Tianjin is a municipality directly administered by the central government of China, located in the North China Plain, bordering the Bohai Sea to the east and the capital Beijing to the west. Tianjin has emerged as a shipping center since ancient times, and after the middle of the Tang Dynasty, it became a terminal for the transportation of grain and silk from the south to the north. Tianjin is the largest port city and shipping center and logistics center in northern China, as well as a famous historical and cultural city. Tianjin boasts abundant natural tourism resources and humanistic resource that reflect modem history and civilizations, integrating the western with the Chinese, the past with the present.
The South Canal in Jinghai
The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal runs through the whole area of Jinghai, which is bounded by the confluence of three rivers in Tianjin. The Grand Canal within Jinghai is called the South Canal, which flows through more than 110 villages and is 49 kilometers long. Jiuxuan Sluice, Tianjin's earliest existing sluice, is the Grand Canal into Tianjin's first station. The flow of culture and the vitality of Jinghai created the ancient and rich historical background of the river, seen through the vicissitudes of the ancient city of the western Han dynasty, the pottery buildings of Han dynasty, the old ship of Song dynasty, gave birth to the old vinegar of Duliu, Pole-climbing of Daliufen Village, Tianjin spiced cabbage, clay Sculpture of Shi's willow, and many other national and municipal intangible cultural heritage, painted colorful scroll of the "NO.1 Village" Lvguantun which is thriving on rivers. Jinghai has been named the Hometown of Chinese Folk Art, the Hometown of Chinese Calligraphy and the Base of Chinese Musical Instrument Industry.
A Pearl alongside the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal –
Yangliuqing Ancient Town
As the saying goes, "Yangliuqing Town came into being earlier than Tianjin City". Yangliuqing ancient town, located in Xiqing District, Tianjin City, is a famous historical and cultural town alongside the Grand Canal. The woodblock printing and architecture culture rooted in the town vividly embody the traits of national governance and ancient rural development in northern China. The Yangliuqing National Grand Canal Culture Park under construction in Tianjin City has a planned coverage of 2,800 mu (187 hectares), which will be divided into three areas, including a historical town, Yuanbao Island and a cultural township. The park, together with the Grand Canal Art City, villages featuring rural tourism, and its radiation area in the west of Tianjin City, promotes the protection, inheritance and utilization of the Grand Canal culture.
