Canal Three Bends Scenic Area

Canal Three Bends Scenic Area

Canal Three Bends Scenic Area is a national AAAA-level tourist attraction.

Yangzhou Canal Three Bends Scenic Spot (YunheSanwanScenicSpot) is now a World Cultural Heritage site and a national water conservancy scenic area. Located in the Three Bends section of the ancient canal in Yangzhou, it is a large ecological and cultural scenic area developed by taking advantage of the canal’s Three Bends and the surrounding wetland scenery, and appropriately arranging humanistic landscapes and leisure facilities. It covers a total area of 3,800 mu, with the core area spanning approximately 1,520 mu. The scenic area is planned and constructed with the Gao Temple and Wenfeng Temple in Yangzhou as endpoints, the ancient canal as the axis, and the Canal Three Bends Scenic Area as the core. It fully highlights hydraulic engineering techniques and canal culture, creating a southern city scenic spot, sports and leisure area, and tourist resort that complements Slender West Lake. It was rated as a AAAA-level scenic area on December 20, 2018.

In 486 BC, King Fuchai of Wu dug the first spade of earth for the Han Canal, and Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty expanded it into the Grand Canal from north to south based on the Han Canal. Today’s Grand Canal became a World Cultural Heritage site on June 22, 2014. The section of the canal within Yangzhou largely aligns with the Han Canal from over 2,000 years ago and the north-south Grand Canal from over 1,400 years ago. The canal section in downtown Yangzhou stretches about 30 kilometers from Guazhou to Wan Tou. The winding and narrow waterway of the Three Bends was the main water route for literati, wealthy merchants, and eminent monks entering Yangzhou throughout history. In the 25th year of the Ming Dynasty's Wanli era (1597 AD), Yangzhou Prefect Guo Guang modified the original canal channel, which was over 100 meters long, by adding bends to extend it to 1.7 kilometers, thus forming the Canal Three Bends.

Location and Area

Canal Three Bends Scenic Area is located on Xingyang Road, Hanjiang District, Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province, adjacent to the ancient canal along the southern part of Yangzhou.

Shadow Silhouette Bridge: This is a landscape bridge spanning the ancient canal, with a total length of 168 meters, including a main bridge that is 120 meters long and 20 meters wide. It draws inspiration from the intangible cultural heritage—Yangzhou paper-cutting art. Ingeniously using bold modern materials and techniques, it expresses the translucent feeling of paper-cut art.

Ripples Bridge: The structure of the bridge adopts a sunken tied-arch design, with a total length of 223 meters, including a main bridge that is 148 meters long and 16 meters wide. The entire bridge design is inspired by the water of Yangzhou.

Listening to the Rain Pavilion: Its name is taken from the poem "Yu Mei Ren Ting Yu" (Listening to the Rain) by Jiang Jie, a poet of the Southern Song Dynasty: “In youth, I listened to the rain from a song tower, red candles dimming the silk canopy. In prime, I listened to the rain aboard a guest boat, with broad rivers, low clouds, and a lone wild goose crying in the west wind. Now, I listen to the rain in a monk’s hut, my temples already dotted with grey. Joys and sorrows, partings and reunions are all heartless; I let the raindrops fall, one by one, till dawn.”

Bird-Watching Shelter: The scenic area has a core protected zone that is off-limits to visitors. Here, the water plants are lush, the lake water is serene, and numerous birds inhabit the area. The bird-watching shelter is an observation deck for visitors to enjoy the wetland scenery and rare birds.

Distant View of Golden Hill: Covering an area of about 4,000 square meters, with a main peak about 12 meters high, it used over 7,000 tons of lake stones. It fully incorporates the characteristics of Yangzhou gardens, using techniques such as “protrusion” and “drift” to highlight the steepness of the mountain.

Zither Bridge: The steel bars on the bridge’s top resemble zither strings, with guzheng frets (known as “goose pillars” in guzheng) in the middle, making it look from afar like a large guzheng standing in the midst of natural wetland scenery.

Music and Water Garden: This is a set of miniature wetland landscapes and also a science education and experience area. Here, water from the canal is introduced into the wetland for purification, keeping the water clear to nourish wetland organisms. The purified water then flows back into the canal, further contributing to the purification of the canal’s water quality.