Although Suqian in East China's Jiangsu province is only 28 years old as a prefecture-level city, it boasts 112 kilometers of the Grand Canal, which dates back nearly 2,500 years and flows through eight provinces and municipalities.

The Suqian section of the Zhong Canal (literally the Middle Canal) is one of the 27 sections of the Grand Canal, totaling 1,011 kilometers, which gained UNESCO World Heritage status in 2014.

Dug by Jin Fu, an official known for his skill in hydraulic engineering during the reign of Qing Emperor Kangxi (1662-1722), the Zhong Canal (literally the Middle Canal) was for taming the Yellow River and accelerating the country's south-north water transportation.

To address the flooding of the Yellow River which had long plagued residents in surrounding areas, Jin ordered the excavation of a canal through the Maling Mountain, resulting in the Zhong Canal running from west to east from Jiangsu's Xuzhou to Suqian, and then suddenly flowing southward to Huai'an by a 90-degree sharp turn.

The turn extending 3.5 kilometers is also known as the biggest turn of the Grand Canal, a major south-north artery of transport facilitating trade, cultural exchanges and economic prosperity in ancient China.

A late afternoon walk along the massive turn, which is now part of the Yunhewan Park, a 42-hectare public space popular for urban leisure, is a real treat in midsummer.

Looking afar, visitors can find various cargo ships sailing and seasoned swimmers practicing on the broad, serene canal. Along the canal bank are colorful running tracks covered by luxuriant vegetation. The park is also decorated by special spaces where residents can play badminton, table tennis, basketball, and chess or card games.

"It used to be the site of the old Suqian Port before the park's construction. There was a raft of dilapidated factory ruins, abandoned houses and polluted rivers, affecting the lives of local people," Gao Xiaoliang, director of the Suqian Museum, told a media tour group visiting the park on June 24.

Suqian government's endeavors of building a scenic park upon the industrial ruins by the canal is in line with the national trend of protecting the ancient hydraulic engineering wonder and giving its surroundings makeovers to burnish its image as a World Heritage Site.

A stone's throw away from the Yunhewan Park is the bustling Jiuku Creative Cultural Park, which used to be an area with nine red-bricked warehouses.

Built in the 1970s, the warehouses played an important role in storing grain transported via the Zhong Canal. Decades later, due to China's booming market economy, the nine warehouses gradually fell into disuse and even became garbage dumps, according to Meng Kai, a local publicity official.

Several years ago, to revitalize the industrial heritage along the Zhong Canal for urban renewal, the Suqian government hired professionals to give the nine warehouses a major face-lift while retaining their original architectural features.

The warehouses have metamorphosed into a six-hectare park featuring libraries, hotels, bars, markets, sports venues and spaces for performance art, enticing residents of all ages to frequent for leisure and fun.

The highlight of the park is the Shuizhi Art Museum where 80-odd photographs focused on the Suqian section of the Zhong Canal are on display.

All created by local photographers and shutterbugs over the last few decades, the photos offer viewers an opportunity to learn about the old Suqian Port and how the city's rust belt has been transformed into a scenic belt.

"We put on this exhibition as a means to record the city's recent history for Suqian people, especially the younger generations," Meng said.

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