Over 30 renowned Chinese artists are painting a huge landscape of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal in the days of the Ming Dynasty.

The 180-meter long scroll is the first ever painting of the canal and will be completed this August. It is currently 70 percent done.

It was commissioned by Gu Jianhua, a member of Beijing's political consultative conference, for people to understand more about the customs, architecture and economy of this important water way 400 years ago.

A number of experts are also involved in the project to ensure the painting is historically accurate.

(CRI.com April 2, 2005)