Sands of time reclaim Grand Canal (2)

Underground canal

The street, just five minutes' walk from his office, is basically on top of the ancient canal. The bridge, called Yong Bridge, is long gone, but the street is not entirely flat. It has got a bit of a bump that is left from the buried bridge.

Outside Suzhou is a local river that once was part of the canal. On one bank are villagers' red-brick houses, on the other side there's a small wooded hill.

Villagers say that in the rainy season the water can rise as high as the first row of trees on the hill and it's easy to catch lots of fish, simply by dragging a fish net in the water that's only around four meters deep.

This segment of the river, or stream, is 25 kilometers long, around 18 meters wide and 2 meters deep; on each side are two or three meters of river bottom.

At the first glance, this stretch of river bottom looks no different from other rivers in the area, except for a small archeological site. Shards of pottery can easily be dug by hand from the soft, silty river bed or wall of the site; it just takes a few minutes.

This 25km stretch is the only part of the ancient canal remaining above ground in Anhui Province. It is not wide or deep enough for traffic but villagers still use it to irrigate their wheat and vegetable fields.

Irrigation, along with transport and flood control, was one of the canal's functions when it was built in the Sui Dynasty (AD 581-619). It was expanded later in the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) and became known as the Sui-Tang Grand Canal.

About 180km of the 3,200km Grand Canal of China passed through the province, mainly through Huaibei and Suzhou cities. All but this section is buried.

It's very rare, especially in the north, to still have a part of the Sui-Tang Grand Canal above the ground. While most of the better-known Beijing-Hangzhou Canal, mainly dug in the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, are still above the ground and even in use, most of the Sui-Tang Grand Canal in Anhui and Henan provinces has been buried for more than 1,000 years, says Zhang Wei from the local Sixian County Grand Canal Bidding Office.

Related Reading:
>>Ceramic shards led to discovery of canal
>>Where king and concubine took their lives :Suzhou
>>Ancient canal buried in silt, sand and dust
>>New 'ancient town' rises along the Grand Canal

We recommend:
Top 10 best tourist destinations of China	Cute childhood photos of celebrities	Top 10 highest-earning Chinese athletes of 2012
Top 15 Chinese actresses of 2012	'Snake' element hidden in cultural relics	Beauties in ancient costumes
World Hakka Girl Contest held in Guangdong	When Chinese wives meet American mothers-in-law	Big mouth beauties in entertainment circle