CHINA Walking in HANGZHOU - City Tour along the Grand Canal in the Historic Districts

Hangzhou is a historic city in China, soon to host the Asian Games and home to the world's longest and most complex Grand Canal.
Today we take a boat trip along the famous Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal all the way north to see the historic districts of Hangzhou on both sides of the Grand Canal and how the city is being built today.
===========================================================
00:00 Intro
01:29 Wulin Gate Dock at the Grand Canal
07:09 Qiaoxi Historical and Cultural District
23:14 China Umbrella Museum
44:12 Xiaohe Street Historical District
01:09:35 Dadou Road Historical District
===========================================================

⭐⭐⭐ Highlight China Tour

⭐⭐⭐ TOP China City：   • TOP CityWalk 中國城市漫步  

⭐⭐⭐ Beijing 4K Tour：   • BEIJING 北京漫步  

⭐⭐⭐ Xi’an 4K Tour：   • XI'AN 西安漫步  

===========================================================
The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, built during the Spring and Autumn Period, is the world's longest mileage and largest ancient canal, and one of the oldest canals, together with the Great Wall and the Canal, are known as the three great projects of ancient China, and are used to this day.

The Grand Canal started from Yuhang (present-day Hangzhou) in the south and reached Zhuo County (present-day Beijing) in the north, with a total length of about 1,794 kilometers. It has played a great role in the economic and cultural development and exchanges between the northern and southern regions of China, especially in the development of the industrial and agricultural economy of the areas along the route.On June 22, 2014, the 38th World Heritage General Assembly declared that the Grand Canal Project of China had been successfully inscribed on the List of World Cultural Heritage, making it China's 46th World Heritage project.

During the Spring and Autumn period, the state of Wu excavated the General Gan Ditch to conquer the state of Qi; during the Sui Dynasty, the canal was greatly expanded and extended to the capital city of Luoyang and Zhuo County; during the Yuan Dynasty, the canal was renovated, abandoning Luoyang and taking it as far as Beijing. It has a history of more than 2500 years since it was dug.

【Qiaoxi Historical and Cultural District】

Hangzhou Qiaoxi Historical and Cultural Neighborhood, known locally as Hangzhou Grand Canal Historical and Cultural Neighborhood, has a core area located in the area of Gongchenqiao, the landmark of the southern starting point of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and a greenway extension covering the Xiaohe Historical and Cultural Neighborhood and the Dadu Road Historical and Cultural Neighborhood, with a total area of about 396,200 square meters. Nowadays, the Qiaoxi Historical and Cultural District, after undergoing urban transformation and organic renewal, has preserved a large number of old street styles and industrial relics, and has realized a magnificent transformation.

【Xiaohe Street Historical and Cultural District】

The historical origin of Xiaohe Street can be traced back to the Southern Song Dynasty, and the existing streets and lanes are reconstructed for the Republic of China, with a width of four to five meters and a length of several hundred meters, located in the northern part of Hangzhou, at the confluence of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, the Xiaohe River, and the Yuhangtang River. The residential houses in Xiaohe Zhijie belong to the culture of canal merchant port and maintain the pattern of one river and two streets, i.e., the first floor of the street is for stores, and the second floor is for residence, which is the typical of the lower store and upper house.

The neighborhood is centered on Xiaohe Zhijie, which truly reflects the living environment of the lower class people along the canal in the late Qing Dynasty and the early years of the Republic of China, and it has been an important area along the canal since the Song Dynasty. As early as in the Southern Song Dynasty, the Xiaohe area is the material distribution center, river and land transit, material reserves. At the end of the Ming and early Qing Dynasties, the river port wharf appeared vigorously. In the middle and late Qing Dynasty, the area began to redevelop, with the gradual rise of catering, refreshment and department stores.

Nowadays, there are still a certain number of historical buildings here, whose architectural features, street styles and canal navigation relics still retain their unique appearance. The overall style and spatial characteristics of the residential houses and shipping facilities distributed along the canals and creeks are still basically preserved, and it is one of the neighborhoods where the overall traditional style is more complete.