★ Tourist location: Water Transport Exhibition Hall in Suzhou Fengqiao Scenic Area

Fengqiao is a transfer station for water transport. Grain from Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces is transported to the capital from here. Royal grain from Huguang, Anhui and Fujian areas is also concentrated in Fengqiao and then transferred to the capital. my country's major water systems such as the Yangtze River and Yellow River are east-west, and artificial canals must be dug from the south to the north. The Beijing-Hangzhou Canal starts from Beijing in the north, passes through Tianjin, Hebei, Shandong, and Jiangsu to Zhejiang, and its southernmost tip is Hangzhou. The Grand Canal connects the five major water systems of the Haihe River, Yellow River, Huaihe River, Yangtze River and Qiantang River, with a total length of 1794 kilometers.

There is a couplet on both sides of the gate of the Water Transport Exhibition Hall: "All grain and beans transport boats collect maple stalks, and most of the stations are delivered to and welcomed by the Jing River." This is enough for Fengqiao's status in the old water transport.

The exhibition hall is divided into four rooms. The central axis is the third and fourth rooms, and the first and second rooms are on the two sides. Follow the tour route and start from the first room on the right.

The first room displays the origin and formation of water transport, which was an important economic measure in my country's history, using waterways to transport grain. In ancient China, part of the grain collected from the land tax was transported by waterway to the capital or other designated places. If the waterway was inaccessible, it was supplemented by land. This kind of grain is called grain. In the broad sense, there are three methods of grain transportation: river transportation, land and water transportation and sea transportation. In the narrow sense, water transportation only refers to river transportation that transfers grain through canals and communicates with natural rivers. Therefore, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty actually did a good thing. When he mobilized a large number of manpower to dig the Tongji Canal, he also thought about water transportation. As for later using the Grand Canal to get down to Yangzhou, it was just making full use of resources, right?

The origin of water transport did not occur in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. After Chang 'an was established as the capital in the Western Han Dynasty, a large amount of grain was transported from the east every year to meet the needs of the troops of aristocrats and officials in the Guanzhong area. At that time, the transfer of water to Guanzhong was costly and a large amount of manpower was mobilized. Especially at that time, water transport required to pass through the Yellow River, which was sometimes dangerous. Since the Tang Dynasty, successive dynasties have attached great importance to water transportation and established a water transportation storage system.

It turns out that water transportation has a long history. I always thought that water transportation was only possible after the Grand Canal was dug! In the first room, there is also a display of Qing Dynasty water transport documents. Officials at that time all wrote well.

The second room is the Water Transport and Grand Canal, on the left side of the gate and opposite the first room. Due to its strong carrying capacity, water transportation attracted much attention in ancient times when productivity was low and transportation tools were not developed enough. It was also an important foundation of ancient Chinese politics. Until the abolition of the water transport system in the late Qing Dynasty, water transport occupied an important position in the history of grain transportation in China. China was established as a capital in ancient times, especially in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Jiangnan has always been a land of food and rice. Only by grain from the south to the north can the country ensure the food supply across the country. If it happens to be a disaster year, most grain and other materials will need to be transported on a large scale by water transport. Around this economic activity, a complete set of water transportation systems was formed and a huge and complex transportation system was completed. It can be said that water transportation played a crucial role in maintaining the normal operation of the ancient dynasties.

The second room also displays a classical copperplate-"The Important Town of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal", which lists some important economic towns along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, such as Beijing and Hangzhou at both ends, passing through Tongzhou, Tianjin, Cangzhou, Dezhou, Liaocheng, Jining, Xuzhou, Huai 'an, Yangzhou, Zhenjiang, Changzhou, Wuxi, Suzhou, Huzhou and other historical cities.

The third room is the Caofang and Transportation Route, which shows the delivery process, advantages and disadvantages of water transportation and a large-scale Caofang model. Most of the trough boats sailing on canals in the Ming and Qing Dynasties were flat-bottomed and shallow boats. During the Kangxi period, the size of the trough boats was determined. The total length of the boat was 80 feet, the middle was 15 feet, the bottom was 59 feet long, and the stack was 6 feet deep. However, there were still many types of boats, including the first boat, the trough boat, the waist boat, the Laotang boat, etc., there were about 40 kinds.

The large-scale Caofang model in the exhibition room was copied based on relevant records in "Collection of Ancient and Modern Books". There are boatmen working on the top of the cabin, helmmen working on the rudder at the stern, boatmen on both sides of the deck use poles to support the boat, the carriage stands on the deck to command, and there are chefs and chickens busy in the cabin. The scene is very realistic.

The fourth room is about water transportation and Suzhou. There is Maple Bridge in Suzhou City. The relationship between water transportation and Suzhou is naturally very close. Maple Bridge spans the Fengjiang River (a section of the Grand Canal) and is a must-pass on the ancient posthouse road. In the old days, the government set up checkpoints here to inspect passing ships. Every night, the city gates of Suzhou are closed, the canals are closed, and the bridges are filled with trough boats waiting to clear the border at dawn. Whenever grain is transported north through Fengqiao, the river is blocked, so the previous Fengqiao was called "closed bridge". Zhang Ji moored Maple Bridge at night because he docked his boat here and waited for dawn.

In ancient times, there has always been a saying that "the Suhu Lake is ripe and the world is abundant". Fengqiao also prospered due to water transportation and became a famous commercial town and grain distribution center along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. For China, a large agricultural country, Fengqiao's position in water transportation can be imagined. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it became the largest rice and bean market in the country, which is not difficult to understand.

This exhibition room also displays some instruments and imitated holographic multimedia phantom imaging "The Prosperity of Suzhou River Transportation", which uses high-tech means to show tourists the development of the Suzhou River transportation industry and the prosperity of Fengqiao Ancient Town at that time.