A successful first attempt ever for rowing the Grand Canal of China

They went through 19 cities in six provinces. It was more than 1,300 kilometres. It took a month and was the first attempt ever for rowing the Grand Canal of China.

The row started at the Tongzhou Grand Canal Center in Beijing and finished in Ningbo and the idea, initiated by Honorary Asia Rowing Federation (ARF) President, Wang Shi, was to create green awareness as well as a cultural and historical discovery for the participants.

The 22 rowers were in coxed and un-coxed quadruple sculls and every day saw rowing in the morning with the afternoon used to experience history and culture of the city.

Former ARF secretary general and Grand Canal rower Ken Lee explains; “With 2,500 years of history and the lifeblood of ancient China, the Grand Canal nourishes city clusters alongside it and contributes to the free flow of people, goods and information. All rowers are blessed with a spiritual conversation with the ancient intelligence, understanding what unites the Chinese people and feeling the combination of ancient and modern charms.

“It’s a fantastic experience to row the artificial Grand Canal. It’s like climbing the Great Wall of China. Along the way we visited many ancient and modern museums, such as the China Grand Canal Museum at Yangzhou.”

Lee says that along the way locals welcomed the rowers with applause and cheers. “Rowing the Grand Canal narrowed the distance between people and created a unique landscape by putting modern boats next to ancient wharfs and folk life.”

Echoing the world trends of environmental protection, rowers collected water samples from the 19 cities rowed through and submitted them to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) for water quality monitoring.

“I hope all rowers start using reusable water bottles instead of plastic water bottles,” says Lee.