京杭大运河

京杭大運河

Jīng-Háng Dàyùnhé

proper noun

Meanings

1 Grand Canal, about 1,800 km of waterway linking Beijing and Hangzhou

Characters

capital (Beijing)

Examples

HSK 4

京杭大运河从北京一直通到杭州。

Jīng-Háng Dàyùnhé cóng Běijīng yìzhí tōng dào Hángzhōu.

The Grand Canal runs all the way from Beijing to Hangzhou.

HSK 5

古时候，南方的粮食要经过京杭大运河运到北京。

Gǔshíhou, nánfāng de liángshi yào jīngguò Jīng-Háng Dàyùnhé yùn dào Běijīng.

In the old days, grain from the south was shipped to Beijing along the Grand Canal.

Tips

history

The oldest section, the 邗沟 near Yangzhou, was dug in 486 BC. The Sui joined the river systems into one network, and the Yuan cut a straighter route north to Beijing. For centuries it carried the south's tax grain to the capital, and in 2014 it became a World Heritage site. It is often called just 大运河.

memory

京 stands for 北京 and 杭 for 杭州: the name gives the two ends, like 京沪 for Beijing and Shanghai.

Stroke Order

京 jīng

杭 Háng

大 dà

运 yùn

河 hé