A map shows the main cities located along the Grand Canal from Hangzhou in Zhejiang province to Beijing. [Photo/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Representatives from 18 cities located along China's Grand Canal gathered to discuss how to promote the famous waterway as a tourist destination at the 2017 Grand Canal Tourism Promotion Annual Conference in Wuxi, Jiangsu province on Aug 4-5.

The event, which is organized by China's National Tourism Administration and the tourism bureaus of Wuxi and Jiangsu province, also invited leading canal researchers and tourism experts to give their views on how best to preserve the ancient canal and promote the heritage of culture of the towns lining its banks.

The Grand Canal, which runs more than 2,000 kilometers from Beijing to Hangzhou, was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014.

The 18 cities, including Beijing, Tianjin and Wuxi, have been exploring how they can work together to promote tourism along the canal for several years, and formed the Grand Canal Tourism Promotion Alliance to provide a platform for this work. The annual conference is also part of the same effort.