The Wuxi section of the Grand Canal. [Photo/wxrb.com]

Wuxi recently became the city with Jiangsu province's most iconic cultural tourism products along the Grand Canal, with 40.6 kilometers of the historic waterway that links Hangzhou, Zhejiang province with Beijing passing through it.

Although the canal in many of these cities has become a mere tourism attraction, the portion that runs through Wuxi still plays an important role in the city. The close interaction between the canal and Wuxi residents shapes the local culture, lifestyle, and economy.

Wuxi started protecting historic residential buildings, schools, shops, temples, ports, and bridges along the canal from 1992, earlier than many other cities along the waterway.

Over the years, people in Wuxi have realized that the only way to promote the innovation and development of Grand Canal culture is through the protection and development of ecological and cultural landscapes along the canal, as well as the inheritance and utilization of historical and cultural heritage resources.

In order to promote the longest and oldest manmade waterway in the world, Wuxi has released various municipal plans specifically regarding cultural, ecological, and tourism development.

The Implementation Plan for Cultural Protection, Inheritance, and Utilization of the Grand Canal in Wuxi stated that the ecological protection pattern of the Wuxi section of the Grand Canal will be fully formed by 2025, with clear water and green banks along the waterway. Wuxi will also be developed into a green and livable canal city by then.

Today, the city has worked to incorporate Grand Canal culture into contemporary times, while also focusing on how people can better protect it, according to experts.