The Grand Canal of China

The Sui Dynasty can take credit for much of the early construction of the Grand Canal  , today a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and still the longest as well as the oldest canal or artificial river in the world.

The oldest parts of the canal dated back to the 5th century BC, but various sections were first connected during just 40 years of the Sui dynasty at the end of the 6th Century.

Five million labourers watched over by 50,000 guards connected Beijing with the bread baskets of southern China . The canal helped unify and govern the country. It’s giant rivers rivers flowed west to east but the canal ran north- south ,enabling the distribution of much need grain shipments.

Divided into seven sections it would eventually run 1800 kilometres between Beijing in the north and Hsngzhou in the south linking the Yellow River and Yangtze River.

Over time The canal was updated  and improved  by later dynasties,