The millennium canal culture drives the high-quality development of Yangzhou
The Grand Canal stretches for thousands of years of culture.
Using the canal as a medium, let the beauty of Chinese culture illuminate the future; Using the canal as a window, let the sound of Chinese canals spread overseas. On August 24th, the 2023 World Canal City Forum, jointly hosted by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the People's Government of Jiangsu Province, is about to grandly open in Yangzhou.
The Grand Canal is a precious heritage left to us by our ancestors.As the origin city of the Grand Canal and the leading city for the joint application for World Heritage, Yangzhou bears an important responsibility in promoting the construction of the Grand Canal Cultural Belt and National Cultural Park, as well as promoting international exchange and cooperation among canal cities.
Let culture come to life, let civilization spread, and let cities move. At the recent online theme promotion of "Using Rivers as Media - Looking at China along the Grand Canal" and the "Media Eye - Looking at the Canal" Yangzhou Tour, the main person in charge of the Yangzhou Municipal Party Committee stated that Yangzhou firmly shoulders the mission of "revitalizing the ancient canal", strives to be a demonstration and at the forefront of the construction of the Grand Canal cultural belt, and is committed to building the Grand Canal into a never-ending cultural river, a beautiful and shared ecological river, a happy river that benefits future generations, and an open and inclusive communication river.
The River of Culture: To Have a Source of Living Water
The Grand Canal is not only a physical river, but also a cultural river with a continuous cultural heritage. The Grand Canal is like a source of flowing water, injecting new energy into cultural inheritance and the continuation of civilization. Since 2021, Yangzhou has successively constructed multiple key projects with the Yangzhou China Grand Canal Museum as a landmark building, promoting the Grand Canal from a "geographical space" to a "cultural space".
The appearance resembles a giant ship about to set sail, and the China Grand Canal Museum is located on the banks of the ancient Yun River in Sanwan, Yangzhou. Its location was announced at the World Canal City Forum 5 years ago. Construction began in September 2019 and took over 600 days. The museum officially opened on June 16, 2021. Nowadays, this is a sought after "internet celebrity museum" by tourists from all over the world, and what attracts people is the Grand Canal culture it carries.
Li Hui, Social Education Commissioner of the Social Service Department of the Grand Canal Museum of China, said, "We currently have 13 exhibition halls, with three permanent exhibitions on the first floor and a special exhibition hall and theme exhibition on the third floor. The theme is changed every three months. This summer, the Yuan Dynasty Beijing Metropolitan Exhibition and the Italian painter George Morandi's painting exhibition have attracted many tourists to come and check in."
The integration of cultural relics and technology has brought this museum to life and also made it popular. The museum utilizes technologies such as 5G and VR to showcase the history and culture of the Grand Canal in a diverse manner across the entire river basin, all time periods, and all directions. The sand spaceship in Exhibition Hall 2 attracts visitors to board the ship and experience it firsthand; A 360 degree panoramic view vividly reproduces the local customs and prosperous scenery on both sides of the three sections of the Grand Canal. Standing at the bow of the ship, you can enjoy the beautiful scenery of the canal for thousands of years; The "Da Ming Du Shui Jian: Canal Mist" project allows young audiences to experience the fun of exploring the Grand Canal through the form of "escape from a secret room".
"The cultural relics are very rich, and many projects are also fun. Some of them are my first time seeing them, which allowed me to get up close to the history and culture of the Grand Canal." Zhang, a junior high school student from Nanjing, said that this place is like the "encyclopedia" of the Grand Canal in China, with sections of the ancient canal and antique canal streets, as well as a digital immersive experience of the canal exhibition hall.
In 2022, Yangzhou will comprehensively launch the selection and construction promotion of "Twelve Grand Canal Scenic Spots", and the selected "Twelve Grand Canal Scenic Spots" fully demonstrate the essence of the Grand Canal Yangzhou Section. Slender West Lake is one of the scenic spots. From July 15th to 31st, the large-scale immersive night tour of the Slender West Lake Scenic Area, "Memories of Yangzhou in the Clear Moon", added a free admission point for the "Spring River Flower Moon Night" recitation activity. Within half a month of the event, thousands of tourists received free admission tickets. The activity is very innovative, which is not only close to the theme of the night tour of the Slender West Lake, but also promotes traditional culture. In the eyes of a Xi'an tourist, culture is the soul, and tourism is the carrier. Only through the integration of culture and tourism can it better meet the needs of tourists and allow them to feel the cultural heritage during the tourism process.
In addition, Yangzhou has also made efforts to create a group of new era cultural classics and brands that transcend time and space, transcend the country, possess eternal charm, and have contemporary value. It actively promotes the entry of intangible cultural heritage into scenic areas, neighborhoods, communities, and campuses, continuously revitalizing excellent traditional culture.
Ecological River: Green Yang City Guo is Yangzhou
If the river is clear, the city will be beautiful, and if the water is active, it will flow long. For Yangzhou, both sides of the Grand Canal are a true reflection of ecological beauty. The ancient canal that passes through the city is the "main artery" of Yangzhou and also the "mother river" of Yangzhou. The excavation and repair of the Grand Canal embodies the wisdom of harmony between man and nature, and is itself a demonstration of ecological civilization.
However, in the past, factories built along the banks of the Guyun River have also caused damage to the local ecological environment. Xu Ruifen, a resident of Yangzhou who lives along the canal, deeply felt it. According to her recollection, in the 1960s and 1970s, more than 80 industrial enterprises such as pesticides, leather, and building materials gathered in the Sanwan area, causing serious damage to the canal water body. The water in the canal was simply invisible and inaudible. In 2016, the Central Ecological and Environmental Protection Inspectorate pointed out that Yangzhou Three Bays were among the environmental issues along the Beijing Hangzhou Grand Canal.
In recent years, Yangzhou has taken the initiative to shoulder the major mission of "revitalizing the ancient canal", striving to repay "ecological debts", continuously promoting ecological transformation, and reshaping the scene of harmonious integration between humans and nature. Taking the opportunity of environmental inspection and rectification, Yangzhou quickly tackles the chaos, starting from relocating enterprises, demolishing docks, and cleaning up illegal buildings. It promotes the relocation of industrial enterprises such as pesticide factories, pharmaceutical factories, and food factories around the Three Bay area one by one, and orderly carries out pollution control on the returned land. At the same time, water system dredging, revetment renovation, and wetland ecological restoration are implemented.
According to statistics, a total of 89 industrial enterprises have been shut down and relocated in the local area, and 680 acres of farmland have been returned and wetlands restored. The once foul smelling "Longxu Gully" has finally become an ecological river praised by citizens. Nowadays, strolling along the banks of the Gu Yun River, you can see the vast forests, green corridors, and lively river water. The river surface is rippling with blue waves, and the weeping willows on both sides are leaning against each other. The tranquility and tranquility are revealed in every step of the scenery, with every blade of grass and every tree.
August 15th is China's first National Ecological Day, and significant achievements have been made in the construction of beautiful Yangzhou. According to the data from the Ecological Environment Bureau of Yangzhou City, from January to July this year, the proportion of excellent section III and excellent section II in the provincial examination was 95.7% and 42.6%, exceeding the work targets by 4.3 percentage points and 23.4 percentage points.
The River of Happiness: Ten Miles of Spring Breeze on Yangzhou Road
The ancient city is the root of Yangzhou's historical and cultural heritage. In the construction of the Grand Canal Cultural Belt, Yangzhou focuses on protecting the texture of the ancient city, actively inheriting the canal culture, and accelerating the integration of culture and tourism. The strong atmosphere of the integration of "culture, commerce, tourism, industry, and city people" in the world's canal capital is blowing, rhythmically driving the strong pulse of the "rejuvenation of the ancient canal" era.
The ancient city of the Ming and Qing dynasties, covering an area of 5.09 square kilometers, has four major historical and cultural blocks: Shuangdong, Renfengli, Pishi Street, and Nanhexia. It is the largest, best preserved, and most "Chinese, cultural, and local" historical urban area in the southeastern coastal region of China. Wandering in the ancient city of Yangzhou surrounded by the ancient canal, traditional intangible cultural heritage such as Pinghua, Paper Cuttings, lacquer art, and new business types such as coffee shops, handicraft shops, and cultural and creative spaces are well arranged and organically integrated in the ancient streets and lanes, giving off the charm of the ancient and modern, and full of fireworks and happiness.
The Pi Shi Street, with a total length of nearly 700 meters, is named after the collection of leather goods. A hundred years ago, this was a fashionable street in the city of Yangzhou. The flow of time and the gathering of a group of cultural factors have made Pishi Street a popular cultural and online street for young people to explore. The Border Town Bookstore located at 111 Pishi Street has been here for a full ten years. Over the past decade, bookstore manager Wang Jun and his bookstore have been playing with time, witnessing this old street gradually shining with vitality in the development of cultural and tourism integration.
Unlike ordinary bookstores that sell best-selling books, Biancheng Bookstore is an ancient book bookstore that integrates ancient book restoration, ancient book cultural and creative products, cultural curation, and research. In the over 100 square meter shop, the street facing storefront displays a rich variety of ancient books and cultural and creative products. The small courtyard behind the shop is the warehouse and restoration site for ancient books. Wang Jun is making custom ancient books on the workbench, and there are still many orders waiting to be made pasted above the workbench. "In recent years, by creating popular check-in points and organizing events, Pishi Street has become a distinctive cultural symbol of Yangzhou, and youth and literature have become street labels. Our bookstore has also become a 'popular shop' in this' popular street '. Wang Jun talks endlessly about the gratifying changes of Pishi Street in the past decade.".
For many years, Yangzhou has adhered to new explorations and practices in the protection of historical blocks, organic renewal of ancient cities, excavation of modern service functions, and improvement of residents' lives, constantly revitalizing the city. Following the concept of "protecting its appearance, beautifying its appearance, enhancing its charm, and forging its soul", Yangzhou continues to promote the protection and renewal of ancient cities, promulgates and implements the "Yangzhou Ancient City Protection Regulations", and actively explores a path of ancient city protection and revitalization with Yangzhou characteristics.
Renfengli has put a lot of effort into micro updates, with all weak electrical pipelines along the line being laid down, 33 traditional residential buildings being renovated and repaired, 2600 square meters of damaged road surfaces being repaired, about 450 meters of gas pipelines being laid, more than 30 new streetlights being installed, and more than 40 additional monitoring points being added... The people of Yangzhou have adopted a "slow simmering" approach, promoting the improvement of the lives of the indigenous people and the cultivation and development of new business formats while preserving the ancient city's urban style and fireworks flavor.
The protection of ancient cities should have both a beautiful "face" and a solid "interior". Yangzhou not only strung tourism resources scattered throughout the ancient city into a string, but also injected new elements and vitality. Through the creation of new cultural and tourism hotspots such as the North moat cultural and tourism cluster area and the Ming and Qing ancient city protection and cultural and tourism demonstration area, a comprehensive tourism development blue map full of ancient charm and novelty has gradually become clear.
The River of Communication: Up to now, thousands of miles of Lai Tongbo
Shipping is the greenest mode of transportation in the comprehensive transportation system. For thousands of years, the canal has nourished the cities and people on both sides, connecting the north and south, and facilitating the smooth flow of goods.
The ancient canal, which transports grain from the south to the north, connects the economic lifeline of China for thousands of years; The South to North Water Diversion Project of the New Canal has built the main framework and artery of the national water network in contemporary China. Openness and inclusiveness are the distinctive characteristics of canals from ancient to modern times, as well as the distinctive temperament of contemporary China. In recent years, Yangzhou has vigorously promoted the construction of the Beijing Hangzhou Canal Green Modern Shipping Demonstration Zone, allowing the "golden waterway" of the new era to play an increasingly significant role.
How did the Yangzhou section of the canal, which has been flowing for thousands of years, shine with the youth of modern shipping? At the Jiangsu South to North Water Diversion Exhibition Hall at the Jiangdu Water Conservancy Hub, a huge sand table with a scale of 1:75000 showcases the magnificent scene of large-scale cross regional water resource allocation on the land of China. The sectional view of the exhibition hall shows the footprint of the Jiangdu Water Conservancy Hub from an elevation of 0.7 meters, which has been elevated by 9 steps to 30 meters and transported over 400 kilometers of water into Shandong.
On August 13th, the real-time operation data on the large screen of the pump room of Jiangdu Fourth Pumping Station recorded the achievements of Jiangdu Water Conservancy Hub in benefiting the soil and water of a region, with a cumulative operation of 6163 days and a total pumping volume of 80.76 billion cubic meters. Qian Bangyong, Secretary of the Party Committee and Director of the Jiangdu Water Conservancy Engineering Management Office in Jiangsu Province, introduced that the Grand Canal is a water transmission and shipping route. The Jiangdu Water Conservancy Hub has optimized water resource allocation and restored the ecology of rivers and lakes, unblocking the transportation artery of the Beijing Hangzhou Grand Canal. The total annual transportation volume of the Subei Canal reaches 300 million tons.
The Grand Canal is not only an economic artery connecting the north and south, but also a universal language for communication with the world. In history, Chinese culture has expanded its global influence through the Grand Canal. Today, Yangzhou still uses the canal as an emotional bond, blending with world culture and economy.
In recent years, Yangzhou has established a regular communication mechanism with numerous international organizations and world canal cities through the "Grand Canal" as a window; Continuously holding the World Canal City Forum and the World Canal Ancient Town Cooperation Mechanism Conference, working together with global canal towns to promote sustainable development, building a cooperation platform for the dissemination of canal culture and world city exchanges, and telling the stories of canals and China to the world.
On August 24th, the World Canal City Forum will be held again in Yangzhou, marking the 16th consecutive time that Yangzhou has hosted this grand event about the Grand Canal. Using this forum as a link, Yangzhou is building a global circle of friends for canal cities, creating an important platform for promoting canal culture, telling canal stories, and promoting exchange and cooperation among canal cities worldwide.
Inheriting the cultural heritage of the canal for thousands of years, Yangzhou, a canal city built by water, thriving by water, and beautiful by water, is continuing to write the story and spirit of the new era of canals, and drawing a high-quality development blueprint for the harmonious coexistence of people and rivers in the city.
