- Chinese (Pinyin):
- Subei Guangai Zong Qu or
- (Wade-Giles romanization):
- Su-pei-kuan-kai-tsung Ch’ü
- English:
- Northern Jiangsu Main Irrigation Canal
Subei Canal
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What is the Subei Canal?
The Subei Canal is located in the Jiangsu province of eastern China. It provides a direct sea outlet for the waters of the Huai River near the Guan River's mouth. It forms an extensive irrigation network with the Grand Canal and other channels and is used for hydroelectric power generation.
Constructed between 1934 and 1937, it serves as a channel for floodwater discharge and the primary artery for an extensive network of drainage and irrigation channels. After 1950, the main canal was rebuilt and integrated into a waterway system, which was designated as the Subei Irrigation District.
The new canal is 168 km long and leaves Hongze Lake through a large lock at Hongze to cross the Grand Canal at Huai’an. The main canal flows into the sea east of Binhai, its mouth protected by a tidal sluice.
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Where in China is the Subei Canal located?
The Subei Canal is located in the Jiangsu province of eastern China. It stretches 168 km (104 miles) from Hongze Lake to the sea at Liuduo, east of Binhai. The canal crosses the Grand Canal at Huai’an, where locks control entry to the northern and southern sections of the Grand Canal and provide access to the Yunyan Canal. The Subei Canal is a crucial component of the Subei Irrigation District, serving as a main artery for drainage and irrigation, and is also utilized for hydroelectric power generation.
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Why was the Subei Canal constructed?
The Subei Canal in Jiangsu province, eastern China, was built to create a direct sea outlet for the Huai River's waters, which previously emptied near the Guan River's mouth. It aimed to solve the perennial drainage issues in the Huai area that were caused by the Huang He (Yellow River) changing its course in the late 12th century CE. Constructed between 1934 and 1937, the canal was designed as a channel for floodwater discharge and the main artery for an extensive drainage and irrigation channel network. After 1950, it was rebuilt and integrated into a waterway system, becoming part of the Subei Irrigation District.
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How does the Subei Canal connect to other rivers or canals?
The Subei Canal in Jiangsu province, eastern China, provides a direct sea outlet for the Huai River's waters. It forms an extensive irrigation network with parts of the Grand Canal and other channels and is used for hydroelectric power generation.
The main Subei Canal crosses the Grand Canal at Huai’an via large locks and sluices that control entry to the northern and southern sections of the Grand Canal. Another lock provides access to the Yunyan ("Salt Transport") Canal, also called Yan ("Salt") Canal, which runs northwestward to Lianyungang. Several trunk canals have been built as main arteries of the irrigation and transport system to the south of the main canal. North of the main Subei Canal, there have been extensive repairs and improvements to the Yunyan Canal, including a series of new locks and sluices, and the courses of several other rivers in the area have been canalized as well. They now form the main arteries to which a great number of smaller local irrigation and drainage projects have been connected.
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What are some major uses of the Subei Canal today?
The Subei Canal in Jiangsu province, eastern China, serves multiple crucial functions today. It provides a direct sea outlet for the Huai River's waters and, with the Grand Canal and other channels, forms a large irrigation network. This network is essential for agriculture in the Subei Irrigation District.
Additionally, the canal is used for hydroelectric power generation. It also facilitates water management through an extensive system of locks and sluices that control water flow between the Subei Canal, the Grand Canal, and the Yunyan Canal, supporting both irrigation and salt transport.
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How has the Subei Canal impacted local communities and transportation in China?
The Subei Canal in Jiangsu province, eastern China, provides a direct sea outlet for the Huai River's waters. Built between 1934 and 1937 and rebuilt after 1950, the 168-km canal links Hongze Lake with the sea, crossing the Grand Canal at Huai’an.
The canal serves as the main artery for an extensive irrigation and drainage network, designated the Subei Irrigation District. It supports local agriculture and helps prevent perennial drainage issues in the Huai area. Additionally, the Subei Canal facilitates water transport and is used for hydroelectric power generation, benefiting local communities.
1 Britannica SourceCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Subei Canal, canal in Jiangsu province, eastern China, designed to provide a direct outlet to the sea for the waters of the Huai River, which discharged near the mouth of the Guan River. Together with part of the Grand Canal and various other channels, it forms an extensive irrigation network in the region and is also used for hydroelectric power generation.
In the late 12th century ce the Huang He (Yellow River) changed its course to discharge south of the Shandong Peninsula, thus taking over the lower course of the Huai, which thereafter discharged into Hongze Lake and thence southward through a string of lakes and waterways into the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) near Yangzhou (Jiangsu). The Huang He remained in that course until the 1850s, when it again shifted to its present course north of the Shandong Peninsula. In the early 20th century the drainage of the Huai area had become a perennial problem. A canal linking Hongze Lake with the sea was constructed in 1934–37, designed not only as a channel for the discharge of floodwaters but also as the main artery of an extensive network of drainage and irrigation channels. However, the destruction of levees in 1938 during the Sino-Japanese War again temporarily shifted the Huang He into the Huai, in the process inundating a vast region and causing massive damage. After 1950 the main Subei Canal linking the Huai River with the sea was largely rebuilt and was incorporated into a waterway system covering the coastal belt of Jiangsu north of the Yangtze, which was designated as the Subei Irrigation District.
The new canal, 168 km (104 miles) in length, leaves Hongze Lake through a large lock at Hongze (Gaoliangjian) to cross the Grand Canal at Huai’an. There, large locks and sluices control entry to both the northern and southern sections of the Grand Canal, while another lock provides access to the Yunyan (“Salt Transport”) Canal, also called Yan (“Salt”) Canal, running northwestward to Lianyungang. The main canal flows into the sea at Liuduo to the east of Binhai, its mouth being protected by a tidal sluice. Several trunk canals have also been built as main arteries of the irrigation and transport system to the south of the main canal. North of the main Subei Canal, there have been extensive repairs and improvements to the Yunyan Canal, including a series of new locks and sluices, and the courses of several other rivers in the area have been canalized as well. They now form the main arteries to which a great number of smaller local irrigation and drainage projects have been connected.
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