Meet Huai'an, the Grand Canal's Caoyun capital
The Ancient Mokou Site Museum, a new museum that opened in May, unveils the genesis of Huai'an as the ending point of China's first canal excavated some 2,500 years ago.
History has it that to ship supplies north in case his forces should engage the northern states, King Fuchai of the Wu State—during the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC)—dug the Hangou Canal to connect the Yangtze River and the Huaihe River. Fuchai's canal started in today's Yangzhou and ended in Mokou, where Huai'an stands today.
The museum features ruins of a dam and a wharf dating back to the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279). Visitors can find bricks engraved with "Huai'an Zhou" (Huai'an City) in the walls of the ruins.
With stunning multi-media visuals, enchanting interactive installations and an immersive market, the Ancient Mokou Site Museum offers the audience a way to time-travel into Huai'an's brilliant past inextricably intertwined with the Grand Canal for millennia.
