A Grand Session with the World in Name of Canals

The Grand Canal of China， an important record of the Chinese civilization， has been making significant contributions to the country’s economic development， national unity， social progress， and cultural exchange between the north and the south. As the only city that was born and grew along with a canal in China， Yangzhou gains its prosperity through this canal and in return enhances the beauty of the canal. People in Yangzhou call the canal their mother river with deep affections， treasuring and protecting it wholeheartedly. Since 2007 in the name of canals， Yangzhou has been inviting other cities in the world to participate in the China Yangzhou World Canal Cities Expo， which it held for 7 consecutive years.

The Grand Canal Brings Prosperity and Cultural Diversity to Yangzhou

In 486 BCE， the construction of the Han Canal and Han City began under the orders of Fuchai， the King of the State of Wu， thus starting the history of Chinese canals. Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty （581 -618 CE） ordered to dig the BeijingHangzhou Grand Canal which linked five major river systems in China and joined the Yangtze River at Yangzhou. This gave Yangzhou its great significance as a hub of both water and land transportation in China， a gateway linking the country’s north and south and a window of communication with other countries.

In the early years of the Han Dynasty （206 BCE - 220 CE）， King Liu Bi of the State of Wu developed industries of coin-casting and saltproduction in Yangzhou， thus attracting a great number of merchants to the city to do business. In the Tang Dynasty， Yangzhou became the junction of the Marine Silk Road and the Silk Road on land and the largest city in Southeast China， enjoying the fame of the best commercial city in the country. In the Qing Dynasty， the booming salt economy brought Yangzhou to a period of great prosperity. Taking the advantages of its administrative power over water transportation of grain to the capital， salt industry and watercourse management， Yangzhou became a hub of water transportation of grain to the capital and the largest salt distribution center in China. In the early 19th century， Yangzhou ranked the sixth place among the world’s ten biggest cities with a population over 500，000.

The geographic advantage has made Yangzhou a city where cultures of different parts of the country and the world meet. It has developed its unique urban culture through inheritance and continuous innovation. It is here that history and reality， material and spiritual， human civilization and natural environment all blend into a harmonious whole. The tangible and intangible cultural heritages， such as Yangzhou Painting， Yangzhou School， Yangzhou garden， Huaiyang cuisine， Guangling music， Yangzhou lacquer-ware， Yang- zhou jade-carving， Yangzhou opera， Yangzhou folk songs， Yangzhou bonsai， etc. have been inherited and developed.

In order to push forward the study， protection， inheritance and development of canals and canal culture—the common wealth of mankind， the Yangzhou municipal government， in cooperation with PECC-China， has been hosting the China Yangzhou World Canal Cities Expo seven times in succession. Administrators and experts from domestic and foreign canal cities gathered in Yangzhou to discuss common problems confronting canals and canal cities’ economic and social development， expecting to reach con-sensus through this communication platform. The establishment of the World Historic and Cultural Canal Cities Cooperation Organization in 2009， and the completion of the permanent site of World Canal Cities Expo in 2011 have further perfected the mechanism of the Expo. In 2012， the World Canals Conference and the 6th World Canal Cities Expo were held at the same time in Yangzhou， helping upgrade the expo to an international symposium.

The World Canal Cities Expo， a Unique Platform to Show Yangzhou’s Charm

By holding the World Canal Cities Expo for the past 7 years， Yangzhou shows to the world its unique charm of being a “renowned canal city”. The expo has not only attracted mayors and experts of cities along the Grand Canal， but also more and more domestic and foreign canal cities， international organizations and canal management agencies to Yangzhou. It has become a grand cultural gathering with Yangzhou characteristics and international vision， a communication platform for friendship and cooperation among canal cities all over the world， and a festival for promoting Yangzhou to the world.

On September 26， 2013， in the“Heart of the Grand Canal”—the permanent site of the expo—by the Grand Canal， nearly 400 representatives and experts from 5 international organizations， 16 foreign canal cities and 35 Chinese cities along the Grand Canal gathered in Yangzhou to share their ideas and discuss the mode for protecting， developing and rejuvenating ancient canals on the theme of “water ecology， water civilization and renowned cities”， which deepened the economic cooperation and cultural exchanges among world canal cities and enabled them to join efforts to create a better future of sustainable development for world canal cities.

The World Canal Cities Expo， an Important Forum for Canal Cities

The themes of the seven World Canal Cities Expo changed with the times， from “tourism in canal cities” to“l(fā)ow carbon economy”， from “enhancing the canal cities by designing” to“the Grand Canal， a living heritage”.“Water ecology， water civilization and renowned cities”， a major topic of the world today， was set as the theme of this year’s expo. Participants from both China and other countries shared their experience in protecting canal cities and their historical and cultural heritage and utilizing canals. By making presentations and submitting written speeches， they discussed from different perspectives the topics such as ways and methods of building water ecological civilization cities， water landscape in modern cities， the protection and application of water cultural heritage. Also held during the expo were the groundbreaking ceremony of a national water ecological civilization city pilot project—the construction of urban section of the ancient Grand Canal in Yangzhou—and a boat trip along the canal， through which the participants learned the humanistic， ecological， exquisite and livable features of Yangzhou. After 6 years of development， the expo has become an important brand of Yangzhou and China for canal culture development and heritage protection； and an ideal platform for world canal cities to share experience in protecting their historical heritage， carrying on cultural traditions， tapping potential for canal development， and promoting regional cooperation. In the future， Yangzhou will continue its efforts to make the World Canal Cities Expo the most unique platform for international exchange to advance common development of world canal cities. Let canal cities prosper because of canals and canals become beautiful because of cities.