Duiangyan

 

Friday we ventured into a different area north west of Chengdu.  The town was called Duiangyan.  We traveled by bus and train.

According to the history of Duinangyan during 406–226 BC people who lived along the banks of the Min River were plagued by annual flooding.

One solution would have been to build a dam, but Li Bing, the governor, had also been charged with keeping the waterway open for military vessels to supply troops on the frontier. So, instead he proposed to construct an artificial levee to redirect a portion of the river's flow and then to cut a channel through Mount Yulei to discharge the excess water upon the dry Chengdu plain beyond.

Cutting the channel proved to be a far greater problem as the tools available to Li Bing at the time, prior to the invention of gunpowder, were unable to penetrate the hard rock of the mountain.  So, he used a combination of fire and water to heat and cool the rocks until they cracked and could be removed.  After eight years of work a 20 meters (66 ft.) wide channel had been gouged through the mountain.

The irrigation system made Sichuan the most productive agricultural place in China. On the east side of Dujiangyan, people built a shrine in remembrance of Li Bing.

This irrigation system was completed around 256 B.C. and still functions today.  It is the oldest ecological engineering site in the world.  By taking advantage of the special landforms it functions without a dam, distributing water to many farms and people, and the system helps prevent floods.  The system irrigates 668,700 different farmlands. It has been working for over 2,250 years.  Pretty amazing huh? It's also a Unesco World Heritage site.

 I knew the irrigation site with the massive water diversion and ingenious system would be fascinating but I didn't expect the gardens around the area to be so beautiful.  We had such a great time exploring this area with our friends. 

Anlan Suspension Bridge
We walked across some pretty amazing bridges. Anlan or Couples bridge spans the full width of the river connecting the artificial island to both banks, and is known as one of the Five Ancient Bridges of China.

In 1803 during the Qing Dynasty a local man named He Xiande and his wife proposed the construction of a replacement, made of wooden plates and bamboo handrails, to span both streams and this was nicknamed Couple’s Bridge in their honor. The bridges were fun to walk across as we bounced along with each person's step.

We had great fun exploring this ancient city. Here are some of the pictures.

The High Speed Train Ride to Duangyan
(top speed is 200 kilometers per hour or 125 mph)



 

 

The dining area of the high speed train train



The entrance to the park

The walkway through the park was nice

 

1,700 year old gingko tree

 

Our Muslim lunch was very good

The Irrigation System

 

 
 
 
 

 

This suspension bridge leads to the village located across the water

Stairs coming down from the Daoist temple

Inside the Daoist temple


YIKES!
This is what it looked like when we got off the train in Chengdu! Body to body of people trying to get out!