China Canal Culture Museum

China Canal Culture Museum

The China Canal Culture Museum serves as a patriotic education base.

The Liaocheng China Canal Culture Museum is located to the east of the historic and culturally rich Grand Canal and to the west of the beautiful Dongchang Lake. It is the largest comprehensive museum built in Liaocheng in recent years, integrating functions such as cultural relic collection, preservation, research, exhibition, and public education. It is also the first large-scale thematic museum in China dedicated to canal culture.

The Liaocheng China Canal Culture Museum has a total construction area of 16,000 square meters, with an exhibition area of nearly 7,000 square meters. The museum’s name was inscribed by Mr. Fei Xiaotong, a renowned Chinese sociologist, anthropologist, and former Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. The museum has five floors— one underground and four above ground—and is divided into three functional areas: exhibition, collection, and research and academic exchange.

The overall exhibition of the Liaocheng China Canal Culture Museum centers on the theme “The Canal Drives History, The Canal Changes Life.” It aims to comprehensively and multi-dimensionally collect, preserve, and study canal culture, reflecting and showcasing the ancient history, natural scenery, and folk customs of the canal. The basic exhibitions include the “Canal Culture Exhibition” and the “Liaocheng Historical Relics Exhibition.”

Background of Construction

Liaocheng is one of the important cities along the canal, sharing an inseparable historical bond with it. The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, excavated during the Sui Dynasty, passes through the western part of Liaocheng. The Huitong River from the Yuan Dynasty runs through the heartland of Liaocheng, bringing centuries of economic and cultural prosperity and accumulating a wealth of canal cultural resources.

To inherit and promote the outstanding historical and cultural heritage of the canal, Liaocheng proposed the construction of a Canal Museum during the Eighth Five-Year Plan period and included it in the plan. It was subsequently included in the Ninth and Tenth Five-Year Plans, as well as the Cultural City Construction Plan.

After more than ten years of effort, construction of the Canal Museum began in 2002, and the main structure was completed in 2004. The main building of the museum is uniquely majestic, resembling a giant grain transport boat cutting through the waves of the canal when viewed from afar.

In the second half of 2004, preparatory work for the exhibition layout of the Canal Museum began.

In August 2008, the Exhibition Layout Working Group for the China Canal Culture Museum was established to oversee the arrangement of the museum's exhibits.

On May 1, 2009, the Liaocheng China Canal Culture Museum held a grand opening ceremony and officially opened to the public free of charge.

Further Reading:

· National Second-Class Museum of China