Giving the Canal a Grand new look

Pop singer Shangguan Xi'ai (left) tours Yangzhou, Jiangsu province, with Duan Zhiqiang, a historian from Fudan University. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Yangzhou's 2,500 years of history intertwines with that of the waterway, a history of interdependence, prosperity, and development.

For that particular episode, comedian Yan Hexiang, architect Zhang Jiajing, and Zhou Kui, an associate professor from the Communication University of China and a Yangzhou native, served as volunteer guides at the China Grand Canal Museum in Yangzhou.

They used their respective expertise to talk about the Grand Canal with visitors, presenting information in either a humorous or academic manner.

Yan later took Zhang and Zhou on a leisurely tour through the streets and alleys by rickshaw. They visited a teahouse to sample tangbao, or soup dumpling, a local delicacy, and explored a historical bathhouse to experience the bathing and foot massage traditions that can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty.