The China Grand Canal Museum is scheduled for opening on June 16 in Yangzhou city, east China’s Jiangsu province in concurrence with the Grand Canal Cultural Development Forum, according to a press conference held by the provincial government on Thursday.
The China Grand Canal Museum has made debut in Sanwan Ecological and Cultural Park of the section of the Grand Canal in Yangzhou. As a new landmark of the Grand Canal cultural belt, the museum is like a ship anchoring at the bank of the grand canal and waiting to set sail.
The China Grand Canal Museum, located in Yangzhou Sanwan Ecological and Cultural Park, is the first modern comprehensive canal theme museum in China that integrates cultural relics protection, scientific research exhibitions, and social education.
With a total construction area of 80 thousand square meters, the museum was approved and named by the General Office of the State Council on November 19, 2020 with a view to showcasing the history and culture of the Grand Canal in all directions and multi-dimensions.
Zheng Jing, Director of the China Grand Canal Museum:
The theme of this exhibition is "The Ship on the Canal".The development of the ship represents the miniature of the development of the canal.In the middle of this exhibition hall,we can see that we have used nearly a hundred ship models to sort out the development process of the canal.
Visitors to this museum can gain a glimpse into the historical sources of Grand Canal in the Sui and Tang dynasties, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and the East Zhejiang Canal to appreciate the historical context and cultural features of the Grand Canal basin in China.
Visitors can also experience the canal hydraulic technology, experience the fun of canal exploration, and appreciate the scenery along the canal through an immersive interactive experience.
Passing through the exhibition hall and into the antiquated streets, visitors can see restaurants and shops along the street, as if walking in the water village on the canal during the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Through the use of sound and light technology, the LED screen shows the scenery from sunrise to sunset along the canal.
Zheng Jing, Director of the China Grand Canal Museum:
We use the ring screen to make tourists seem to stand on the bow,starting from Hangzhou,traversing the entire canal and feeling the beautiful life of the people on both sides of the canal. The visitors can also hear some different dialects and get a multi-sensory experience.
The China Grand Canal Museum has so far collected more than 10 thousand exhibits of various cultural relics, including ancient books, calligraphy and painting, inscriptions, ceramics, metalware, and miscellaneous items reflecting the theme of the Grand Canal from the Spring and Autumn Period to the contemporary era. There will be 2 basic displays and 9 exhibits that will vividly showcase the Chinese wisdom of the Grand Canal in terms of national governance, cultural integration, foreign exchanges, river engineering technology, and transportation. The exhibition can be called the "encyclopedia" of China's Grand Canal.
