The safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage is considered an important part of sustainable development. Among the 629 UNESCO-listed traditions are five entries in Estonia, the most recent of which is the building and use of dugout canoes (独木舟) in the Soomaa region.

Every year, before spring, Soomaa National Park transforms into an almost drowned world, when water from melting snow in the eastern uplands floods the low-lying forests, wetlands, roads and yads of the residents who still live here. The water level rose so high that villagers could roll a dugout canoe right through their windows and into their living rooms. Everyone has had to learn to adapt to the natural annual phenomenon.

Building a dugout canoe requires a good trunk of an aspen (山杨), which grows throughout the forests of Estonia.

Once cut down, the trees are peeled and shaped like a cigar using an axe. From here, the inside of the boat is carved out to give it shape. Builders cut the frame down to a few centimetres in thickness. A long log fire is then built alongside the canoe, which is filled with several bucketfuls of water and left to warm up. Once the water has evaporated, sticks are squeezed into the frame lengthways to open it up. Aspen is a soft wood and a trunk half a metre across can be expanded into a metre-wide boat. The bot is than left to cool in the shade and is traditionally finished the following spring. Once the wood has fully dried, it’s given its final design and covered with tar (焦油；柏油).

Aivar Ruukel, one of the only five Estonians who still preserve the skill, chooses to build them as a way to connect with the history. As a young man, Ruukel attended workshops led by two master boat builders, both in their 70s at the time. He hopes that by the time he’s 70 there will be more young people doing the same. Enthusiasts hope that its joining the heritage list will safeguard the ancient practice and attract the next generation of boat masters to keep it alive.

For centuries, the power of Chinese emperors rose and fell with their control of the Grand Canal. Today, this waterway is shorter than it once was, but it is still the longest man-made river in the world. Importantly, the Grand Canal continues to provide a significant cultural and economic link for modern China.

The   original   canal   system   began around the year 605. China’s Emperor Yang realized that he needed a better way to move food quickly to his army from China’s southern rice-growing region to the country’s north. So about one million people-mostly farmers-worked on the construction of the first section of the Grand Canal, which took six years.

Over the next 500 years, the canal’s importance grew. However, by 1127 , parts had begun to deteriorate. In 1279, Kublai Khan began to repair and build new parts of the canal, which created a more direct north-south route to and from Beijing. Future rulers continued to expand and improve the waterway, and it eventually became an important national lifeline.

In addition to moving rice around China, the Grand Canal was an important cultural connection. Soldiers, businessmen,and artists transported ideas, regional foods, and cultural practices from one part of China to another. According to ancient stories, this is how Beijing acquired two of its best-known trademarks. Peking duck,a dish from Shandong Province, and the Peking opera, from Anhui and Hubei regions,were both brought north by the canal.

For more than a thousand years, goods have been transported along the Grand Canal.Even today, the country’s watery highway plays an important economic role in China. Boats continue to carry tons of goods. In addition, local governments-eager to in-crease tourism and real estate (房地产) development-are beautifying areas along the canal.

In 2005, a group of citizens proposed that the historic Grand Canal be made a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was officially granted (批准) in 2014. The hope now is that the Grand Canal-one of the world’s great engineering achievements -will continue to link north and south China for centuries to come.