Amidst all the stories of rampant water pollution in China comes a report on the ancient and once filthy Grand Canal in Hangzhou, which has been cleaned up and is now a flourishing center of urban life:
A $250 million makeover that began in 2001 has improved water quality and spurred urban renewal along a 24-mile section of this ancient transport artery that once connected China’s great west-to-east river systems, carrying the goods, taxes and official communications that sustained successive dynasties.
Today, small fish swim among the pylons supporting cargo wharves where effluent from factories and raw sewage from homes had poisoned this section of the world’s oldest man-made waterway. Walkways and parkland line sections of the canal, and some of China’s most expensive apartment buildings have sprung up beside it on what has become prime real estate. Water taxis connect historic piers and bridges along the winding route through the city where old shop houses and tenements are being restored. [Full text]
[Image: The Grand Canal outside Hangzhou, by David Lague for the International Herald Tribune]
