The Chenguantun Canal Culture Museum is located in the central area of Chenguantun town, Jinghai district, Tianjin, 120 meters west of the Tianjin-Pukou railway. It was built in 2014 with an investment of 10 million yuan by the Chenguantun town government. It is the only town-level canal museum along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. The exhibition hall focuses on the Chenguantun section of the Grand Canal, showcasing the rich historical and cultural heritage of the canal, especially the 12.5 kilometers of the Chenguantun section in Jinghai, and the moving stories that the canal has brought to the people.
The exhibition hall of the Chenguantun Canal Culture Museum covers an area of 2,900 square meters, with a collection area of 1,772 square meters and a total investment of 10 million yuan. The museum is divided into seven parts: the introductory hall, ancient charm, canal scenery, customs on both sides, the rise of the ancient town, development and future, and collects more than 1,500 cultural relics, over 260 pictures, and 50 sculptures, with more than 160 square meters of wall relief. The exhibition hall, with the canal as the main line, reflects the important nodes and wonderful moments of every aspect of the history of over 4,000 years, from the Xia Dynasty when the sea retreated to the formation of this land, reproducing the glorious history and cultural connotation of Chenguantun town and the canal culture for over 2,000 years.
In terms of spatial design, the exhibition hall is ingeniously designed. The glass floor shows the distribution model of the villages on both sides of the canal from a canal's perspective. The walls are decorated with antique bronze reliefs introducing the seven parts of the exhibition area, allowing visitors to admire them as they walk along. The different exhibition areas show the historical evolution, archaeological discoveries, folk legends, local special products, customs, and current development of Chenguantun town, with rich content and vivid explanations, reflecting the development process closely related to the canal. The Chenguantun Canal Culture Museum displays the ancient folk customs of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal through literature and material objects, showcasing the development footsteps of the people living along the canal for generations.
Relying on the historical culture of the Grand Canal, Chenguantun town tells the story of the canal from the historical tradition and cultural heritage of the town's development along the canal, creating tourism nodes and exploring a path of development that integrates the three industries based on the canal. The Chenguantun Canal Culture Museum is a museum-style theme park and tourist attraction that comprehensively displays Chenguantun canal culture. It plays an active role in promoting the promotion of rural canal culture and the storytelling of canal culture, and enhancing the construction of the canal tourism culture belt in Chenguantun town.