江苏留学网

Students from Overseas Chinese Academy Suzhou show their souvenirs during a boat trip along the Grand Canal on April 8. [Photo by Hang Xingwei/jschina.com.cn]

Some 20 high school students from Suzhou, Jiangsu province, got aboard a boat trip along the Grand Canal on April 8, delving into the profound history and culture of the world's longest and oldest artificial river. 

The activity, organized by the Overseas Chinese Academy Suzhou, engages students in a six-day study trip along the Jiangsu section of the Grand Canal. The students spent their first three days traveling along the river in Suzhou and Wuxi cities, followed by cycling to Hangzhou, the terminal city of the canal, and visiting some local sights. 

"The serial documentary A Bite of China raised my interest in snack food along the Grand Canal, and I am using my trip to focus on dietary culture and customs along the river," said Xu Mingxuan, a student from the school. 

Her classmate Liu Yuanyi, who moved from the capital Beijing to Suzhou two years ago, said she didn't know much about the river and has decided to study the influence and changes the Grand Canal has brought to riverside residents. 

Crossing over the Yangtze River from west to east, the Grand Canal, also known to the Chinese as the Jing–Hang Grand Canal, is divided into a south and a north part in Jiangsu province. It is listed by UNESCO as a world heritage site and is home to many historical and cultural legacies, such as the more than two-thousand-year-old Xushuguan ancient town, the Wenchang Pavilion erected in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the time-honored Hanshan Temple, and Suzhou's only existing Hengtang ancient post station. 

The Overseas Chinese Academy Suzhou is a school that is the first of its kind to specifically target the children of overseas Chinese who return to China and those who aim to study overseas and eventually return.