Fig. 1

Distribution of World Heritage Sites along the Suzhou section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. In the map: a Shantang River is connected to the Grand Canal, one of the main waterways of the Suzhou section of the ancient Grand Canal. There are numerous existing cultural relics and monuments, rich cultural heritage, and well-preserved relevant historical buildings and historical patterns of the neighborhood. b Its water system and streets and lanes have preserved the original appearance of the trunk and branch river structure of the waterway system of the city and the double checkerboard pattern of water and land with the river in front and behind the street and parallel streets and rivers, which are shown on ancient maps. c China’s only well-preserved land and water-parallel historical city gate, with high historical and cultural heritage value. d Located on the west bank of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, lying north–south between the Grand Canal and Tantai Lake, parallel to the ancient canal, it is one of the ten most famous bridges in ancient China and also the most prolonged and best-preserved large-scale ancient stone bridge with continuous arches in China. e It is both an ancient boat-tracker path and a post road, the only remaining ancient boat-tracker road of the Jiangnan Canal, which is of great significance