Cities along canal eye new preservation

Relics-protection authorities along the Grand Canal see the listing of the world's longest artificial waterway as a World Cultural Heritage site as a new starting point for its preservation.

After Sunday's announcement that the canal had been designated by UNESCO, Hangzhou declared that the city will create a system to protect and manage the canal to ensure that it will survive for another 2,000 years.

Of the total 58 historical sites of the Grand Canal, 11 of them are in Hangzhou.