Jiangsu.NET News

Stretching nearly 1,120 miles from Beijing to Hangzhou, China's Grand Canal is the world's longest and oldest canal and is still a major artery in the eastern part of China. The man-made waterway was started in 486 B.C., with most major construction taking place a millennium later, from 605 to 610.

Along the canal lie a score of cities and towns, big and small. Many of these, especially in the area west of Shanghai, are historical tourist destinations including Suzhou, Zhouzhuang and Tongli are within 65 miles of Shanghai. To get Wuxi, you need an additional 25 miles farther.

Having worked for two years at a tech company in Japan and picking up the language, Qiu Zhaohua has decided to return to China, lured by a job in the eastern tech hub of Dalian that pays as much 200,000 yuan a year, or about $29,000 _ a handsome starting salary by China's standards.

Chinese media have dubbed returnees like Qiu as "sea turtles" _ Chinese-born graduates of top global universities and veterans of major companies that Beijing is eager to lure back as it tries to move its huge but poor economy beyond low-skill manufacturing.

Hoping to reverse a "brain drain," the government and companies are scouring the globe for talent. Job fairs like the one Qiu attended _ at the posh Prince Hotel in central Tokyo _ are one of their tools, with dozens being organized around the world.