10th February, 2001
Embankment Of Canal: Brickworks And Lime Kilns, Children Fishing, Black Smoke From Tall Chimneys, Stacked Tree Trunks And Rice Straw Bales
August, 1987
The activities on the embankment of the canal, were indicated by the cargo on the barges. Amongst the loads being carried were, coal, bricks, concrete blocks, timber, rice bales, sand and aggregates, but many other loads were hidden from our prying eyes by tarpaulins. In the distance, plumes of black smoke rose from tall chimneys breaking the skyline; there was a brick works to be seen and lime kilns, all relying on the barges to get the finished products to their delivery points. Good use was being made of the canal waterway, relieving the pressure on roads, not yet prepared for the increase in traffic they would soon have to contend with as China encouraged investment by foreign companies. The embankment of the canal was sometimes cropped agricultural land sloping to the water�s edge where flocks of white ducks preened their feathers. At other parts, stone embankment walls were topped with low concrete posts and lintels, forming a very open fence, behind which lay a road, fronting houses and shops.
 Parts of the wall had no fence, but steps led down to the water where children bathed or used small fishing nets on bamboo poles. There were wharves stacked with tree trunks, bricks, pipes, rice straw, all waiting to be transported to some unknown destination. A cruise down the River Li from Guilin to Yangshuo would satisfy anyone�s thirst for picturesque scenery but for a glimpse of the everyday lives of a particular group of Chinese people, what could be better than a cruise down the Grand Canal ?
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