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Dujiangyan Irrigation System
The Dujiangyan Irrigation system is a
miracle of ancient Chinese ingenuity. Before the completion
of Dujiangyan, the plains around the Min River were prone
to floods due to the fast moving Min River flowing down
from its mountain source and meeting flat ground. It was
in the Warring States period about 2200 years ago, that
the engineer Li Bing and his son led the construction of
the Dujiangyan irrigation system that tamed the Min River
and irrigated the surrounding plains.
The central brilliant idea of the project
is the annual silt removal and maintenance plan devised
by Li Bing that ensures the projects long-term usefulness.
The actual structure of the project includes a dyke that
divides the Min River into inner and outer flows. The inner
flow is then redirected to irrigate local farm land. One
interesting thing about the irrigation system is the that
project is ongoing and has expanded to more than three times
its original irrigated area of 1 million hectares.
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The Fulong Temple (Fulong Guan) was erected
in 168 AD to commemorate the taming of the river. Fulong
Temple sits in Lidui Park overlooking the split between
the inner and outer flows of the Min River. Also, Li Bing's
genius is again celebrated at the Two Kings Temple (Erwang
Miao) near the dyke. The "two kings", of course,
are Li Bing and his son, Er Lang. Two Kings Temple can be
found in the western section of Yulei Park overlooking the
dyke. There are cable cars that run between Lidui Park and
Two Kings Temple in Yulei Park. The relatively high fares
of RMB25 per ride keep the cable car's passengers to a reasonable
number.
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