Grand Canal, one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites, is the longest and the oldest canal or artificial river in the world. Starting from Beijing, Grand Canal passes through Tianjin and the provinces of Hebei, Shandong, Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the city of Hangzhou, linking the Yellow River and Yangtze River. Jiangsu province has the longest river of Grand Canal, which flows through the most cities, including Xuzhou, Suqian, Huai’an, Yangzhou, Zhenjiang, Changzhou, Wuxi and Suzhou.

The first Grand Canal Cultural Tourism Expo is held in Yangzhou from May 3rd to 6th, 2019. On the 3rd of May, 56 international students from Business School of Yangzhou University visited Grand Canal Culture and Tourism Expo, including the grand canal cultural relics exhibition in Yangzhou Museum, the grand canal art exhibition in Yangzhou Museum of Art, international canal city cultural tourism exhibition in Yangzhou National Exhibition Center, visiting Slender West Lake and watching feature boats parade, light show and opera related to the origin of Grand Canal.

It was a memorable day for these international students.  ALI MD AL AMIN from Bangladesh said, “I have been in Yangzhou for two years, but I have never experienced so much culture about Grand Canal like today.  It is great experience and I will think about business opportunities in the future”. SHONGWE KHONZI from South Africa said, “I love this expo. Everything is amazing. I am very happy to have a chance to learn about the culture of Grand Canal. I hope I will have more chances to experience Chinese culture.”