Site visited April 2017. I visited four inscribed sites of this WHS, three granaries and one proper stretch of the actual canal.

At first, when I planned my trip to China, this site looked like just a tedious tick off. But when I searched more information about it, this site became very exciting. I found many interesting Grand Canal sites which would be very nice to visit. The only limitation would be time - which places would be within reach for my itinerary. I used Luoyang as one of my bases for my day trips so there were two options for canal visits: either Zhengzhou Section of Tongji Canal or Hua County and Xun County Section of Wei Canal (Yongji Canal). The former is nearer but it would be a bit problematic to get to because there are not any clear landmarks where to take a taxi without any Chinese skills. The latter is conveniently located along the high speed railway line towards Anyang so I would be able to visit it on my way to Yin Xu site. Additionally, I would be able to tick off one more granary site. So I chose that one.

One might wonder why there are many granaries (storehouses of grain) in this kind of watery World Heritage Site. It is justified to the background that the canal is originally created for transportation of grain. The Grand Canal answered to the massive needs of agricultural empire. It solved many unbalances in society and allocation of natural resources between the different areas of the country. In the long run it became also unifying factor and means of cultural exchange to the different areas of China.

So Xun County Section of Wei Canal was my choice for the first actual Grand Canal WHS visit. According to the nomination document it is ”the most typical” and ”one of the best preserved” section of the Wei Canal. Xunxian or Xun County is nice little town that has actually quite a lot of things to see. It is easy place to reach from the city of Hebi which has high speed railway station within 30 minutes train journey from Zhengzhou. From Hebi high speed railway station I took a taxi, 20-30 minutes, to Xunxian. I had printed the Chinese name of the town from Wikipedia. I showed the print to the driver and so we were heading to Xunxian. Later on I had some problems because the driver didn’t have a clue where I wanted in Xunxian so he wanted to drop me off in some modern residential area. After some negotiations and extra yuans the driver ’understood’ where I wanted to go.

The inscribed canal section follows about three kilometres the edge of the old town of Xunxian. After that the canal continues to south about 15 kilometres towards the town of Huaxian or Hua County where the inscribed area ends. It would be possible, and also interesting, to walk all the way to Huaxian but I didn’t have time for that.

Just beside the canal is the old town wall of Xunxian or what is left of it. Along the old town the banks are made from bricks but after that the banks are earthen. It is nice to walk along the wall to the little square where is a gate to the old town. From a distance the canal looks like a picturesque place. People of the town grow vegetables on the banks and everything seem to be quite tidy. But when you get closer you can notice that the canal is very dirty and it smells bad. It is full of garbage and I even saw a dead dog floating on the water. Still there were some cheesy looking pink pedal boats to hire under the bridge.

Like I mentioned, in Xunxian there are also some other interesting places to see than two Grand Canal sites. Maybe the best known attraction is the Dapi Hill on the edge of the old town with its massive 22 metres high Buddha statue which is said to be the oldest and largest in northern China. Also the adjacent Fuqiu Hill contains some ancient Buddhist relics and temples. The main streets of the old town are recently restored and in many spots there are also some remnants of old town wall and its towers. Overall, there could be some tourism potential in Xunxian.

Liyang Granary is located also in Xunxian, about two kilometres from the canal. It was one of the most important and largest granaries in the Sui and Tang dynasties. It had an important strategic location between the Yellow River and Yongji Canal. One of the Liyang Granary’s significant features is the transformation from underground silos to aboveground warehouses.

The site is quite easy to find from the canal. Just walk through the old town and across a bigger road. Then pass a residential area to the edge of the town. When I was, according to the map, just beside the core zone I couldn't notice anything referring to WHS. It was just a field that looked like a construction site. There were not any fences so I headed to the site via a small path.

Liyang Granary is just going through a major facelift after which there should be good facilities for visitors. There were already three glass-roofed sheltering buildings for excavations and a bigger concrete building and also small entrance building. Between the buildings are wooden paths and some info signs. Otherwise, the place was under construction. Only people at the site were some construction workers but no one paid any attention to my presence. All the buildings were closed so I just watched the excavations through the glass.

Hanjia Granary is the other of two Grand Canal related granary WHS in Luoyang. The site’s actual name is ’No. 160 Site of Hanjia Granary’ which means that it is just one excavated silo or cellar of former huge imperial state granary complex which is nowadays under the city of Luoyang. It is the best preserved single cellar site with the largest storage capacity. During the Eastern Han dynasty the capital city of Luoyang was the largest grain gathering place in the country.

The site is located on an industrial area just beside the railway. The place was quite easy to find by using the map from the nomination document. I guess I was lucky that there was just some other group leaving when I entered the place. The guard asked me some money and let me in. After my visit he closed the place. Apparently the site is not open but on appointment.

Basically the site is just one cellar, unearthed in 1972, inside a sheltering building. The cellar is 11 meters in diameter and the depth is six meters. Inside the building there are also some information signs about the granary.

Huiluo Granary site is within five kilometres walking distance north east from Hanjia Granary in the suburbs of Luoyang. Busy national highway goes through the core zone. While Hanjia Granary site is just a small building, the Huiluo Granary site is quite big area with a complete granary layout and numerous cellars. On the entrance is a big stone as a mark of the Grand Canal World Heritage Site.

It was one of the large national granaries along the Grand Canal. About 200 cellars have been discovered from the site, but it has been estimated that there could have been 700 cellars at the original granary.

To my surprise the place was closed even though it was Tuesday one in the afternoon. The problem, as usual in China, is that you can't find any information about the opening times. But hey, I was in the core zone and I could see the circles on the ground through the fences! Maybe the experience couldn't have been remarkably better inside the fence.

Grand Canal is a massive site like the Great Wall. To really understand it you have do some background research and to look a bigger picture, not just single places and details. Single short canal stretches could seem a bit underwhelming but all the networks of canals form very impressive whole. It really is an important achievement of engineering. I was pleased with my visit to Xun County Section of Wei Canal. The granaries seem to be curiosities that you just want to tick off although Liyang Granary could have some potential after the renovation.