中国大运河的繁华

The Grand Canal in China and Canal Culture

中国的大运河与万里长城一样,是中国劳动人民的伟大创造。中国大运河是世界上开凿时让最早、流程最长的一条人工运河。大运河全长1782公里,跨越今北京、天津、河北、山东、江苏、浙江4省2市,沟通了钱塘江、长江、淮河、黄河、海河五大水系。大运河是中国2000多年历史的现实见证,是保存中国古代灿烂文化最丰富的文化长廊、博物馆和百科全书。对于历代祖先给我们留下来的这笔珍贵的遗产,不仅需要后代子孙很好地加以保护和利用,而且迫切需要今人加以认直的发掘、总结和继承。

The Grand Canal in China, like the well-known Great Wall, is also a breathtaking construction work achieved by Chinese working people. It is the earliest and the longest man-made canal in the world and the entire project lasted for more than 1000 years with continuous construction and repairs. The finished canal was 1782km long, minding across four provinces and two cities, connecting five main water systems from South China to North China, becoming a cultural corridor, a museum and an encyclopedia preserving the rich ancient Chinese culture. Time-honored towns and cities were built along the canal, sharing the same precious legacy of buildings, gardens, folk custom and water resource facilities, which shall be well preserved and utilized today. We shall explore, summarize, inherit and develop the treasures left till this day to us.