The Grand Canal once carried 70% of China's north-south freight, serving as the empire's economic backbone for centuries.

By 1906, the Beijing-Hankou Railway already transported four times the canal's peak volume, clearly signaling the decline of traditional waterborne trade and the dawn of a new era of rail-based transportation in China.

Today, railway freight is 60 times and road freight 390 times that of the canal. Yet in water-rich regions, the Grand Canal still offers unique economic and environmental benefits.