On Friday, the China Islamic Association officially kicked off the shoot for a new documentary Huiwang Yunhe (Looking Back at the Grand Canal) at a ceremony in Beijing. The documentary will focus on the economic, cultural and religious history of Muslims living along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal.

The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal starts from Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province in East China, connecting four provinces (Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shandong and Hebei) and five rivers (The Yellow, Haihe, Huaihe, Yangtze and Qiantang rivers) before coming to an end in Beijing.

One of the longest man-made canals in the world, the canal served as part of the Maritime Silk Road and helped Islamic culture expand in China.

While Islamic culture spread to the western part of China through the land route provided by the Silk Road, it was able to spread to costal provinces in Southeast China through the sea route.