China's Grand Canal: World's Longest Waterway Dwarfs Narmada, Son Rivers

• China's Grand Canal, stretching 1,800 km from Beijing to Hangzhou, is the world's longest man-made waterway.
• It is significantly longer than India's Narmada River (1,312 km) and Son River (784 km).
• Construction began in the 5th century BCE, expanded by Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty for grain transport, with a tragic human cost of 1.5 million laborers' lives.
• Pioneered engineering feats like the world's first 'lock gates' (587 CE) and the 'pound lock' technique (984 CE), still used in modern canals like Panama and Suez.
• A large portion remains navigable, primarily for coal transport, and holds UNESCO World Heritage status.

Why It Matters: The Grand Canal is an ancient engineering marvel, the world's longest, with a profound historical and human impact.