Eastern Zhejiang Canal

Eastern Zhejiang Canal
View of the canal from Taiping Bridge, Shaoxing
Specifications
Length	239 miles (385 km)
History
Construction began	Spring and Autumn period
Date restored	29 December 2007
Geography
Start point	Xixing, Binjiang District, Hangzhou
End point	Yong River, Zhenhai District, Ningbo
Connects to	Qiantang River, East China Sea

The Eastern Zhejiang or Zhedong Canal, also known as the Hangzhou–Ningbo or Hangyong Canal, is a major canal connecting Hangzhou, Shaoxing, and Ningbo in northern Zhejiang, China. It runs 239 kilometres (149 mi), connecting the Qiantang, Cao'e, and Yong watersheds with Hangzhou's terminus for the Grand Canal and Ningbo's ports on the East China Sea. Since 2013, it has been officially considered the southernmost section of the Grand Canal itself.

The terrain of this area of Zhejiang slopes down from mountains to the south to the coastal plain along Hangzhou Bay to the north. The oldest section of the present waterway was the Shanyin Canal constructed in Shaoxing by the Yue official Fan Li in the 5th century BC during the late Spring and Autumn period.^[1] Despite the need to create numerous locks and dams to allow boats to change levels at the various rivers crossed by the canal,^[2] the entire route was completed with the excavation of the Xixing Canal under the Jin official He Xun in the 3rd century AD.

The canal was an important artery of transport and supply during various periods of disunity in medieval China, notably under the Southern Song whose capital was at Lin'an within present-day Hangzhou.^[3] Despite its lesser importance under the Yuan, Ming, and Qing, the canal was kept navigable through the early modern period before being largely supplanted by railways and roads. Renovation of the canal began in 2002, providing navigability for modern barges except around Ningbo by 2009^[4] and complete navigation of the entire canal by the end of 2013.^[5]

In November 2008, the Eastern Zhejiang Canal was added to the Grand Canal's nomination with the UNESCO World Heritage program as it served as an extension of the Beijing–Hangzhou Canal and provided an additional connection from the cities along the canal to Ningbo's ports and the Maritime Silk Road.^[6] In May 2013, the Eastern Zhejiang Canal was officially included as part of the Grand Canal within China and listed in the seventh group of Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level.^[7] In 2014, it was inducted as a World Heritage Site alongside the Beijing–Hangzhou Grand Canal and the Sui and Tang Grand Canal.^[8]