The waterway in snapshots

Witness to change

Growing up by the canal in suburban Hangzhou, photographer Zhong Liming, now 61, keenly observed the transformation of life and livelihood for half a century.

"I vividly remember taking a boat to visit my grandparents and relatives in nearby villages in the 1960s. The distinct smell of the water and the banks fringed with reeds are among my fond childhood memories," Zhong says. "Back then, my father used a boat to transport fertilizers and harvested rice. Nowadays, very few farmers use boats."

In the 1980s, Zhong worked as a civil servant in Shitang, a small village by the canal. "There used to be rows of single-story houses. Things are way different now. Most people live in multistoried buildings and own cars," he says.