How tech bridges Grand Canal culture

Innovations like AI are transforming preservation and heritage along China's most celebrated man-made waterway and beyond, Yang Yang reports.

Digital technology is transforming cultural experiences like museum trips at unprecedented speeds. Visitors can use DeepSeek to create plans and AI can generate and edit personalized vlogs afterward — and much more.

Tech's role in cultural heritage preservation featured at the high-level Canal Dialogue convened in Beijing on May 30 as part of the 2025 China Grand Canal Cultural Belt Beijing-Hangzhou Dialogue.

The Grand Canal has enabled cities to flourish for centuries. Today, technologies are advancing new models of sustainable urban development along the south-to-north waterway.

For instance, the Beijing (Tongzhou) Grand Canal Cultural Tourism Scenic Area, a national 5A site, employs digital display spaces and smart garden management to make the canal's history and culture more accessible and engaging, says Hou Jianmei, a senior official of Tongzhou district.

Furthermore, Tongzhou is also pioneering the development of smart scenic areas, employing light-and-shadow storytelling, advancing audio-visual experiences and fostering cultural creativity to enhance the preservation and use of the Grand Canal's cultural legacy, Hou adds.

Similarly, in Hangzhou's Gongshu district in Zhejiang's provincial capital, the revamped Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal Museum experienced a surge in visitor numbers to over 1.2 million in 2024, a 73 percent increase over the previous year. Additionally, nearly 100 "technology and culture" events across the district attracted over a million attendees.

These figures underscore how technology is directly enhancing cultural and tourism development, says Ying Qiaohua, a senior official of Gongshu.

As digitalization progresses, the ancient culture of the Grand Canal is entering a new era of digital intelligence. With the aid of cutting-edge technology, the dissemination of canal culture has transcended time and space, resulting in a rich array of content and mediums.