10 Yuan The Grand Canal, Beijing

The Grand Canal series, issued annually by the People's Bank of China, documents discrete sections of the 1,794-kilometer waterway that connected Hangzhou to Beijing across six provinces. This 2025 Beijing installment focuses on the northern terminus — specifically the Tongzhou section, which served as the capital's primary supply artery from the Yuan dynasty onward, funneling grain, silk, and tribute goods northward from the fertile Yangtze basin. At peak operation under the Ming, an estimated 400,000 tons of grain moved through annually.

The canal fell into serious disuse after the Tianjin-Pukou railway opened in 1912, rendering bulk water transport economically redundant almost overnight.