The+Grand+Canal

=The Grand Canal=

China's Grand Canal is one of the worlds most incredible building projects. It is the worlds oldest and longest canal and it is still a useful mean of importation and exportation for China. When the canal was built, over two thousand years ago, six million peasents were hired to work on the creation of this incredible engineering. Of those six million workers, aproximately three million of them died during the project due to harsh treatment and work conditions. Those that survived received very little pay, and the death of so many men was one of the contributers to the downfall of the Sui Dynasty. Today the canal remains as the worlds longest. In ancient times, the canal was used as a main artery between northern and southern China. An artery is a main channel or highway. The canal made travel easier for many. For centuries, the Grand Canal was the main source of transportation. But it was not only people being transported by the canal, but also grain. The transportation of grain to Bejin was an essential part of the economy in ancient times. Every year more than 8,000 boats transported 240,000 to 360,000 tons of grain. Along the canal, boats could unload their goods at any of the twenty four docks, and as well as docks along the river, there were also about sixty bridges. and although the canal was an excellent source of transportation, it also had many other uses. Some other uses of the canal besides transportaion were military, allowing the emperor to view his lands and powering textiles and mills. There were two main ways that the canal was used by the military. First off, during the Warring States era feudal lords constructed waterworks that diverted water onto their neighbors' lands in times of flood or away from their neighbors' land in times of drought. and the second reason was that the Grand Canal also provided an obstacle to invading forces, and they assumed deeper importance as the lords competed for irrigated lands.
 * Uses**

The Grand Canal is the world's longest and oldest canal, far surpassing the next two grand canals of the world, the Suez and the Panama canals. The Grand Canal, built in 486 B.C. over a 2,000 year time period by the Zhou Dynasty, when completed stretched up to 1,800 kilometers or 1,114 miles long. Its largest sections were completed in 610 under Emperor Yang Ti of the Sui Dynasty and were built by dredging and linking existing canals. Tree-shaded roads, postal stations, and imperial pavilions were built along the canal. Kublai Khan reconstructed The Grand Canal in the 13th century and extended it to Beijing. Improvements to The Grand Canal were made during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). Today The Grand Canal follows the Bai River south from Beijing to Tianjin.
 * Longest/ Oldest Grand Canal**

The grand canal is one of the greatest accomplish ments of man kind, and is unfairly belittled in comparison to the Great Wall. The Chinese peasents were the people who put the work in on building the 1,114 mile long canal. The entire project called for aproximately six million workers, all of them were needed because the entire canal was man made. With Yangdi's expansion to reach Beijing and Luoyang the total deathtoll reached around three million peasents. This was not helped by the fact that the workers lived and worked under harsh conditions which was the force behind the downfall of the Sui Dynasty. However the canal still stands as the high point in its history despite the overwealming number of deaths in its process.
 * Workers**

The Grand Canal to this day, remains the longest man made body of water in the world. It is also one of the most amazing engineering projects ever done, matching if not surpassing China's Great Wall. When NASA astonaut, William Reid Pogue went to the moon, he claimed to have seen the Great Wall of China from a lenghty 237,788.4 miles above the earths surface. In reality what Pogue saw was really the Grand Canal. The canal is twenty times bigger then the Panama Canal and provides jobs to thousands of Chinese in the towns and cities along the 1,800 feet of water. Along the water way, there are roughly twenty four docks. Each dock employs a few hundred workers to unload cargo from ships and barges. The average dock worker can expect to make 25,000 yuan (3,700 dollars) which is not an very high profit in China, but is enough to support a family. The eighteen cities that the canal runs along, are the source of one fifth (twenty percent) of China's industrial output.
 * The Grand Canal Today**

While the Grand Canal is a true engineering marvel, it does have flaws. The canal was created by man, and it is in the process of being destroyed by man. Pollution is a major problem for this man made master piece. Every day hundreds of Chinese children bathe in the polluted water. A few short years ago 200 tons of sulfuric acid were accidentally dumped in the river to add to the already severe pollution. Even though this is a big problem for China, it is getting better. Chinese government is making small steps toward cleaning up the Grand Canal. If they do manage to reduce pollution then China may have a more compelling argument toward making the Grand Canal a national heritage site. The Grand Canal is an incredible example of ancient Chinese engineering, and is still an important source of import and export 2,495 years later.

//Commercial barges on the Grand Canl// http://www.chinese-handicraft.com/craft/upimg/userup/0710/12192G02W9.jpg

//View of the Grand Canal// http://farm1.static.flickr.com/113/299633532_79481d7091.jpg?v=0
 * [[image:http://www.chinese-handicraft.com/craft/upimg/userup/0710/12192G02W9.jpg]]

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