Painting is just another way of keeping a diary, so said Spanish artist Pablo Picasso whose irrepressible genius spanned nine decades. Wu Liren has been maintaining such a "diary" of the Grand Canal for more than 40 years.

The 65-year-old painter from Hangzhou city, Zhejiang province, has used ink and brush since 1978 to capture the beauty of the arterial waterway, the intrigue of the alleys that scurry along its liberal length, the hospitality of local residents and the richness of culture that flows all the way.

Wu says memories and emotions run deep in his paintings, and these are far more important than any technical perfection.

"My art has always been about the Grand Canal. Sometimes I paint what I saw in the past and sometimes I reproduce what I heard about people who lived by the canal," he says.

The artist recalls how Tomb Sweeping Day seemed like a big waterfront celebration when he was a young lad. Not only did residents gather at the shrines, people from neighboring places joined the temple fair in Hangzhou.

His memory of boats surging back and forth at the crowded wharfs is still as fresh as newly applied paint.

Wu remembers how villagers often had a flower strung to a white towel wrapped around the head. Some wore long green-and-blue aprons and some sported yellow cloth bags on their shoulders. All of them made perfect subjects for his paintings.

The main businesses along the canal were fabric-dyeing, brewing and making joss paper. Dozens of temples along the canal in Hangzhou were crowded during the fair.