The Grand Canal will be designated a "Key State-level Cultural
Relic" on China's first "World Heritage Day," set for June 10th of
this year.
Zhang Wenbin, ex-president of the Cultural Relic Bureau, said
such a measure will help to protect the Grand Canal as well as the
cultural relics that use this route, as state-level cultural relics
are protected by law. It will lay a solid foundation for the Grand
Canal's application to be deemed World Heritage.
Although the Grand Canal is one of the two greatest man-made
wonders that remain from ancient China--the other being the Great
Wall--it is often neglected as a cultural relic, with the
activities for its protection proving far from adequate. Since
2004, the Cultural Relic Bureau has organized several study tours
along the Canal, collecting much of the useful information that
allowed for the Grand Canal to be listed as a state-level cultural
relic.
(CRI.com May 22, 2006)
