TRADITIONAL TECHNIQUE: Workers prepare to mix sticky rice soup in a large iron pot with lime and loess to strengthen the Xiejia Dam on May 17 (XINHUA)

Experts made every effort to ensure that original materials were used during restoration. Workers mixed sticky rice with local soil and lime for mending purposes while driving thousands of specially coated wooden wedges into the dam for added stability and strength.

Chen Yong, an executive member of the Chinese Institute of Archeology and an expert of the Chinese World Heritage Committee, said preparations for enlisting the Grand Canal and its related landmarks as a world heritage site have entered a key phase.

Over the years, the government has become acquainted with the procedures regulated by the World Heritage Convention, with a thorough archeological survey of relics along the Grand Canal having been implemented. "At present, we need to further strengthen our efforts in an all-round way," Chen said.

"To everyone dedicated to heritage protection, better preserving the Grand Canal is the ultimate goal," he added.

Applying for world heritage recognition is a complicated matter. However, Zhu Bingren, a prominent master in copper sculpture and an initiator of the Grand Canal appeal, predicted, "It is highly possible that we will be successful."

As early as 2005, joined by well-known urban planning architect Zheng Xiaoxie and historic architect Luo Zhewen, Zhu wrote a letter to 18 mayors of cities along the Grand Canal, suggesting a UNESCO application be made. In Zhu's view, the Grand Canal, with its 2,000-year history, and spanning the same length as the Great Wall, has remarkable significance for Chinese civilization.

In 2006, at the annual sessions of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a proposal for the Grand Canal's application for world heritage was submitted and approved.

In 2011, West Lake in Hangzhou of Zhejiang Province was enlisted as a cultural heritage site by UNESCO's World Heritage Committee, boosting confidence for the Grand Canal proposal, Zhu said.

"Hangzhou is the starting point for the Grand Canal," he explained. "The lake can serve as an example for other cities along the Grand Canal when applying for world heritage recognition."

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