As the oldest and longest man-made canal in the world, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is 1,794 kilometers long, with a history of over 2,500 years. The canal starts in Beijing in the north and ends in Hangzhou in the south, running through Tianjin Municipality and the provinces of Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang. 

The vast waterway system, linking China's five great rivers, including the Yangtze and the Yellow, has played an important role in transportation and boosting economy along its banks.