Prologue:
It is important to mention here that we visited the Dujiangyan Irrigation System followed by Leshan Giant Buddha and finally the Emei Mountain, because the Dujiangyan Irrigation System has a profound impact upon Leshan city. MinJiang river flows between the two. Only by appreciating the magnitude and importance of Dujiangyan then can one appreciate the beauty of the other two places of interest.

Dujiangyan Irrigation Project

Dujiangyan Irrigation System is located at Dujiangyan City which is approximately 39 kilometres away from Chengdu city. It is a large water conservatory work built in the third century B.C. led by the then governor of the province, Li Bing and his son in order to harness the MinJiang River.A few important facts about the Dujiangyan Irrigation System (source: Dujiangyan Tourism Board Practical Tourist Picture Album Series: Sichuan Volume The Second Collection -ISBN 7-80659-149-4):

1) Dujiangyan Irrigation System has been in existence for 2,250 years.
2) It is the oldest and the only irrigation project without artificial diversion dam in the world.
3) The Dujiangyan Scenic Area consists of the following: The Dujiangyan Irrigation Project, the Erwang Temple in memory of Li Bing and his son, the Lidui Park which houses some of Sichuan's unique bonsais and the Yuleishan Park.
4) Dujiangyan is listed in the UNESCO World Heritage List.


This was the route that we took when we visited Dujiangyan Scenic Area:
Arrival at Qinyan Tower: Qinyan Tower is a four-story building with a height of 26 meters. This is the place where tourists can have a bird's eye view of the Dujiangyan Irrigation Project.

We were then ushered to the balcony and this was what I saw from Qinyan Tower:


The weather was not very good, which explains why the quality of the picture was far from satisfactory. In order to appreciate the magnitude of the project, I have taken the liberty of including this picture from CCTV China's website, which I trust will render most of us speechless:


source: www.cctv.com

This is the overview of Dujiangyan Irrigation Project taken during good weather.

The tour guide wasted no time in explaining to us the functions of the Irrigation system, but there were just too many people around. I bought a guide book and started reading, which proved to be much more helpful. :)

We then took the stairs to the bottom of Qinyan Tower and I saw this on my way down:


This is called the "Qian Nian Gu Mu" which translates to Ancient tree of a thousand years. Due to erosion on the river bed, the trees took different forms of shapes and sizes. Another name for these trees is "Wu Mu."


This is a model of the barricade built 2000 years ago using bamboo and boulders. Its amazing to imagine how these barricades actually alleviated the problems of flood during the rainy season. I do not have engineering genes in me so would need explanation from my engineering comrades... any volunteers?

From the foot of Qinyan Tower, we proceeded to walk across the AnLan suspension bridge. The Anlan suspension bridge was rebuilt in 1803 which extends over the Inner and Outer rivers. It has a total length of 261 meters. This bridge is also known as the Fuqi (Husbandand Wife) bridge. It is said that if married couples walk across this bridge holding hands, they will have a happy marriage.

At the end of Anlan suspension bridge, we walked to the Yuzhui (fish lip) Diversion Dam. It is here that you get to see the diversion of the rivers in action. The Yuzhui Diversion Dam is located in the center of the inlet of the trunk of the Minjiang River. Its top is 30 meters wide and its tail section is 140 meters wide. The dam is from 5 to 8 meters higher than the riverbed. The side near the Outer River named Outer Jingang Dike is 880 meters long, and that near the Inner River named Inner Jingang Dike is 710 meters long. Yuzhui divides the Minjiang River into the Inner River and the Outer River. During flood season, 60% of the water flows into the Inner River and 40% flows into the Outer River to prevent Chengdu plains from flooding.

As you can see, Chengdu benefits greatly from this project and on the way to ErWang temple, I saw a sign which said :
"Zhao Fu Wan Dai" written by the late Deng Xiao Ping, which translates to "Creating Happiness for Hundreds and Thousands of Generations."

Erwang Temple was built to commemorate Li Bing and his son, the brains behind this project which would benefit the people of Chengdu for centuries. Every year devotees come to the shrined and offer their prayers to Li Bing for saving them from the agony of flooding.

From Yizhui, it is advised that you take the minibus to Baopingkou, the third part of the Dujiangyan Irrigation project, which is flanked by the left bank of the inlet of the Inner River and one end of the Yulei Mountain. The bed is 14.3 meters wide, the top is 28.9 meters wide and 18.8. meters high and the canal is 36 meters long. Its function is to conduct the river into the Inner River and control the rate of flow and provide the Chengdu plain and hilly areas of Sichuan Basin with enough irrigation water. Baopingkou translates to " Mouth of the Precious Bottle".

Next to Baopingkou is Lidui, an important scenic spot in the Dujiangyan Scenic Area. Lidui houses various species of rare trees and flowers. As we were in such a rush (word of caution-when you follow a tour group you are always pressed for time) I only managed to snap a picture of the pretty flowers during my brief "stint" in Lidui.



Never mind, there will be next time, right? :)

That's all for Dujiangyan. Next stop: Leshan Giant Buddha!
(p.s. sorry about the lack of pictures in this post. As I said earlier... the weather was really bad... and I did not have many pictures of myself-most of them were group pics with my family, and I don't think its appropriate to have them on my blog lar! :)