The Grand Canal

The Grand Canal is the oldest and longest manmade watercourse in the world. It flows from the northern Beijing to the southern Hangzhou with hundreds of thousands of ferries for over 2,500 years with an overall length of 1794 kilometers. It was firstly built in 486 B.C. and open to navigation through entire line in 1293 A.D. The Grand Canal in Suzhou serves as the most convenient traffic web that covers the whole city. The majority of Suzhou attractions can be linked by the Grand Canal cruise. Taking the Vintage Cruise Boat on the Grand Canal is absolutely one of the best ways to explore lifestyle of Suzhou. You will see not only the typical elements of South China water town like stone bridges, boats, cormorants on boat, waterside houses, etc, but also the elegant life pace of Suzhou people. Along the way, there are 10 ancient city gates of Suzhou, more than 20 stone bridges in diverse styles of traditional designs, ancient river town dwellings and historical relics. Usually, it take about 1-2 hours during the journey.