As a monumental project in ancient China, the Grand Canal is an irreplaceable Chinese heritage. How to better protect, inherit, utilize this particular heritage and how to leverage the historical and cultural resources related to it is now an important project in itself. 

In February 2019, the Outline of the Plan for the Protection, Inheritance and Utilization of the Grand Canal Culture (the Outline) was issued. In the Outline, the creation of the Grand Canal Cultural Belt was proposed, with a clear road map, task book and time table. The Outline highlighted efforts to promote the coordinated development of relevant regions, and the concept of joint efforts to protect the Grand Canal, effectively integrating with major national development strategies.

According to the Outline, Beijing and Hangzhou, as the northern and southern points of the Grand Canal, should hold the "Beijing-Hangzhou Dialogue on the Grand Canal" (the Dialogue) every year from 2019 as a model for the protection, preservation and utilization of the canal and to enhance its international influence. The second Dialogue, convened in Beijing, served just that purpose.

Visitors can directly reach Wulinmen, the center of Hangzhou, by taking a water bus along the Jing-Hang Grand Canal. The high-rises standing on the banks of the Grand Canal blend seamlessly with the thousand-year-old heritage. (Photo/Xiao Yisan)

Compared with the first edition, the 2020 Dialogue has seen the cooperation on the Grand Canal further expand, from four-party participation in promoting the construction of the Grand Canal Cultural Belt to a five-party cooperation mechanism. At the opening Ceremony, the Information Office of Beijing Municipal People’s Government, the Information Office of Zhejiang Provincial People’s Government, the Hangzhou Municipal People’s Government, China News Service, and the World Historic and Cultural Canal Cities Cooperation Organization (WCCO) co-signed the Framework Agreement on the Five-party Cooperation Mechanism for the Beijing-Hangzhou Dialogue on the Grand Canal,  jointly promoting the protection, inheritance, and utilization of the Grand Canal culture.

The inclusion of WCCO in the cooperation mechanism of the Jiang-Hang Dialogue means that it will be further upgraded, expanded, and improved. The five parties will regularly organize media tours along with the canal and photography exhibitions, among other events, through the Dialogue, strengthening cooperation among the cities lying along the canal via multiple platforms and channels. The establishment of the five-party cooperation mechanism is only the beginning of the expansion of the Dialogue, which is an open platform for more canal cities to join and to show the unique charm of China’s canal cities to the world.

Indeed, as a world cultural heritage and as China’s landmark project, the culture that the Grand Canal has generated has also become an indispensable part of the Chinese culture, emotionally resonating with Chinese people all over the world.

How to blend the inheritance and the protection of the Grand Canal culture into the resonance? There is a broad consensus at the 2020 Dialogue: cooperation and co-construction. During the Dialogue, a slew of forums was held, reports published, initiatives proposed, and research centers unveiled to that effect. Experts and scholars from all fields took the Dialogue as an opportunity, offering advice and recommendations for the development of the economy, society, environment, and people’s livelihood along the canal.

The once lively and busy scene of the Grand Canal transport may have been history, but as a link between the north and the south, the influence of the Grand Canal Cultural Belt has not faded. Instead, it serves as a strong cohesive force in the new era. With a flourishing culture and a prosperous China, people living along the canal in the new era are full of new vigor and vitality. Everyone is the witness, the guardian, and the creator of the canal culture.

The inheritance and development of the canal culture cannot be separated from the participation of the people. The Initiative for the Co-Construction and Co-Sharing of the Grand Canal Culture issued by the organizing committee of the 2020 Dialogue is a good start. The initiative calls for strengthening the protection of the canal and keeping the vitality of the canal; inheriting canal culture and jointly building a Grand Canal cultural community; making good use of the canal resources and sustaining its charm; promoting international exchanges and the Grand Canal "going global"; as well as public participation in the protection, inheritance, and utilization of the Grand Canal Cultural Belt.

In fact, at the 2020 Dialogue, a series of themed exhibitions on the Grand Canal, including a photo and book exhibition, the original copies of the Siku Quanshu (or Complete Library of the Four Treasuries) exhibition, an archive exhibition, as well as an exhibition on the best works of Grand Canal photo competition, were held, attracting not only visitors but more importantly participants. 

The Grand Canal is a vivid record of generations of the Chinese nation and in it is embodied the nation's splendid civilization. Indeed, the 2020 Beijing-Hangzhou Dialogue on the Grand Canal also explored a number of new channels to better tell the Grand Canal stories to the world.

during the 2020 Beijing-Hangzhou Dialogue on the Grand Canal.

At the opening ceremony of the 2020 Dialogue, heads of international organizations, experts on the Grand Canal, and international celebrities expressed their recognition of China's canal culture through videos, pledging to jointly help push the Grand Canal culture onto the world stage.

In the main forum at the Dialogue, over 40 domestic and international media outlets live-streamed the discussions of senior experts on the Grand Canal. Audiences were able to interact with these scholars in real-time by posing questions through live-streaming. During the "Poetic and Picturesque Zhejiang" Culture and Tourism Week, another event for the Dialogue, performances, and shows with distinctive local features, such as the making of Quzhou's sesame cakes and the all-female patrol team from the West Lake, was “broadcast” via the popular "Vlog" format across multiple platforms. Audiences who could not attend in person were able to watch them online.

In yet another media tour, a dozen social media influencers, and reporters journeyed to the Yuhe River Heritage Park and Yu’er Hutong (alley) in Beijing's Dongcheng district, to witness the harmonious relationships between the ancient and the modern buildings, between the old and the new residents, and to have a taste of the coordinated development between protecting the old city and building the Grand Canal Cultural Belt.