Wuxi Canal Park

Wuxi Canal Park

Canal Park is located at the confluence of Wuxi’s Old Canal and New Canal. Covering an area of approximately 160,000 square meters, about 60% of which is green space, it is currently the largest cultural-themed park in the urban area. The park lies to the west of Huishan Mountain and is surrounded by water on three sides. The site was originally the hub of Wuxi’s rice market and, after the founding of New China, the center for grain transportation, storage, and processing. Now, incorporating the preservation of 20th-century industrial heritage, the park will become a comprehensive, open, large-scale urban garden integrating rice market culture, canal culture, sports culture, entertainment culture, ecological greening, and tourism and leisure.

Canal Park features numerous attractions: a synchronized musical waterscape where fountains “dance” to the rhythm of music; two preserved and restored historic buildings — the 1910-built Jiufeng Flour Mill and the Chuyehui Guild from the Guangxu era of the Qing Dynasty; three sets of artistic stone carvings that depict historical events in Wuxi and the cultural lineage of the park, including the 218-meter-long relief scroll “Canal Wuxi Pictorial Record,” ancient painting line engravings, and the relief “Singing for the Motherland.” The most eye-catching is the “Canal Wuxi Pictorial Record,” carved from white marble; four specialized exhibition halls, including the He Zhenliang & Olympic Museum (sports), the Painting and Calligraphy Gallery (art), the Folk Music Hall (music), and the Ancient Canal Model Exhibition Hall (architecture).

Canal Park also offers both water and land-based recreational activities. It includes two boat docks (the New Canal Caoyun Dock and the Old Canal Dock) that cater to leisure cruises on both the new and old canals; two waterfront walking routes for strolling and sightseeing, allowing visitors to walk along the river or around the park; two themed sports squares catering to citizens of all ages; two landscaped green spaces, featuring a large lawn of about 5,000 square meters and a wooded hillside of 8,000 square meters; and two indoor event halls mainly designed for those seeking quiet leisure.

In the northwest of the park, the He Zhenliang & Olympic Museum was originally a warehouse of a plastics factory. The Wuxi Chuyehui Guild is a preserved industrial heritage building, one of the few remaining historical remnants of Wuxi’s rice market and the best physical evidence of the market’s industry organizations. In Canal Park, 14 prominent brick silos standing between Xifengbang and Shenghebang catch the eye. These silos were originally used for grain storage, built between January 1980 and December 1981 as part of the Wuxi Grain Bureau’s Second Warehouse. Preserved as industrial heritage, they have been renovated, reinforced, and repurposed as leisure bars offering views over the park.

On the eastern side of Canal Park, along the bank of the Old Canal, a flood prevention wall of several meters in height originally stood. Now, by constructing a riverside corridor about 500 meters long along the bank, the flood wall has been “hidden” within the corridor wall, greatly improving the park’s environmental aesthetics without affecting its original function.

Address: Beside Canal East Road under Jiangjian Bridge, Beitang District, Wuxi City (near Ronghu Bridge)

Type: Theme Park

Recommended Visit Duration: 1 hour

Opening Hours:

Open all day