10 Yuan The Grand Canal, Henan

The Grand Canal series, issued by the People's Bank of China across multiple years, highlights discrete provincial sections of the world's longest artificial waterway — a structure begun during the Spring and Autumn period and dramatically expanded under the Sui dynasty emperor Yangdi around 605 AD, an undertaking that reportedly cost millions of lives and contributed directly to the dynasty's collapse. The Henan section connects the canal's northern reaches through the central plains, historically one of the most commercially vital stretches for grain transport to the imperial capitals.

Mintage figures for individual provincial issues in this series have been tightly controlled, typically capped at 30,000 pieces.