Exploring 2,000-year-old water irrigation system on World Water Day

Hello everyone, this is Ying Heng with Xinhua News Agency. March 22nd marks World Water Day, a United Nations initiative that raises global awareness about the value of water and the importance of a sustainable water management. Today we are in Dujiangyan, southwest China's Sichuan Province, and we are standing at Rizhui Water Dividing Dike, which is the heart of the world's greatest hydraulic engineering feats. Built over 2,200 years ago during China's Warring States period, Dujiangyan is the world's only Asian irrigation system still in operation today. It was designed by Li Bing, a local governor of the Qing State, and remarkably, it regulates water and controls floods without dams or gates. This engineering marvel has earned UNESCO World Heritage status and continues to benefit millions of people across the Chengdu Plain, known as the Land of Abundance. So what is the secret behind its longevity? What kind of wisdom allows this ancient system to still function today? And today we are joined by Ms. Pan from the Dujiangyan Snake Area to tell us more. Hi Ms. Pan. Oh, Mr. Ying. Can you like introduce yourself a little bit to our audience? My name, you can call me Nicole, and I work in this place, Dujiangyan Snake Area. And where we are now, this is Fishmouth, is the first part of the Dujiangyan Water Conservancy Project. In 256 BC, the governor of Shu Prefecture built Dujiangyan Water Conservancy Project. The whole project is composed of three main parts, precious bottleneck, sandfine spillway, and the fishmouth. They cooperate with each other to realize flood control, sand discharge, and irrigation. It is because of Dujiangyan that Chengdu Plain enjoys the reputation of the Land of Abundance. So focusing on water conservation governance, we'll walk through Dujiangyan's core projects, decodes the ancient Chinese water wisdom hidden in every design, and explore this millennial project still shines in modern times and shares ancient China's water management experience with the world. So let's start our journey. So Ms. Pan, we can see that there are many tourists here today, and it's a very sunny day. So is it like regularly so many people here? Yes, because everybody would like to come to that place, because this is a world cultural heritage, as one of the world heritage sites. So many local people, many Chinese people, many foreign people would like to come to this place to enjoy the beautiful scenery, the clean water, and to obtain some ancient Chinese people's wisdom. So Yuzui, you just mentioned, can you tell us more about Yuzui, which is also called a fishmouth, because it looks like a fish, right? Yeah, because this part, the shape of this part is like the fishmouth, so why we call it. And first, we see the water, we see the river, this is the Mingzhang River, originating from the snowy mountain, and the fishmouth was built on the natural curve to divide the water of the Mingzhang River into two parts, the inner river on the right is a man-made river that has been organized and dug to irrigate the central plain, the outer river on the left is a natural river for discharging flood water and salt. In the dry season like today, the water is low, and the water usually flows to the lower part, and about 16% of the water flows into the inner river to guarantee the irrigation. In the flood season, maybe in July, June, about 16% of the water will flow into the outer river, reducing the flood pressure on the central plain. As you can see, there is a natural curve, according to the principle of the curve circulation, a centrifugal force generated by the curved motion of the water flow makes 18% of the sediment flow to the outer river, only 20% of the sediment will enter the inner river. Actually, in front of us, there are three trails, two of them. So we can see that here we have some of the ancient techniques that are used in Dujiangyan. Yes, actually, the Dujiangyan irrigation project is not only a great irrigation project and brings about some advanced hydro techniques, such as bamboo cages loaded with stones, but this is not a bamboo cage, and then we will see it. This is a bamboo cage loaded with stones, which is the oldest embankment project in the world. Actually, in front of us, this is a wooden tripod, we call it Ma Cha, for using the stability of the tripod. People usually connect these tripods one by one together. People connect the tripods together one by one and put some stones and clay inside, forming a simple tool to cut off the water. This is Ma Cha and the cages in the stones. Okay, so to get to the next stop, we need to get on the sightseeing cart. Let's go. Mr. Pan, so when tourists come to our scenic area, what can we experience in this Dujiangyan scenic area? Actually, this is a whole scenic area, so many people come to this place to see the project, enjoy the fresh air, see the blue sky, and on the right, this is the outer river. This is the outer river? Yes, it's wider than the inner river. This is a natural river. And in this season, I think the water is not very large during the whole year. Yeah, because today, like today, this is a dry season. About winter, spring, it's a dry season. But if you come to that place in July and June, it's either a rainy season or a bad season. When that comes, I think the Dujiangyan irrigation system will play an important role in the Chengdu plain. Yes, there are many rivers. The main function of the inner river is to irrigate the Chengdu plain. So the Chengdu plain enjoys the reputation of the land of abundance. The outer river is a natural river, so the main function of this part is to discharge fine water and silt to the river. The fish mouth was built on the natural curve to divide the inner river and the outer river. We can see that it is a really, it's a very sunny day, and so can you tell us more about the culture here? Like how people in the history and till now, how people live and how they work? Because as you can see, this is a city of three heritage, Dujiangyan. We have fresh air, we have clean water, we have a suitable environment. So many people would like to come to this place to enjoy their vacation and live. And I think on our left side, here it is Feishayan. Yeah, it's the second part of the sandfly spillway. So where? So why do we call it a sandfly spillway? Because just as its name implies, so the main function of the sandfly spillway is to fly excess water and silt. The second part is called sandfly spillway. This is a long way that can fly excess water and stones away. In the dry season like today, we can see the early appearance of about it. When the water flow is more, the water is diverted into the precious bottleneck, which is a river embankment to guarantee the irrigation of the channel plain. In the flood season, when the water flow is large and exceeds the height of 2.15 meters of this weir, the excess water will overflow itself through this path to the outer river. So we also call this part water-reducing river. So besides Yuzui, this is the second part. Yes, this is the second part and the main function of it is to fly excess water. And you just mentioned like three treasures. This is the second one. Yes, and as you can see in front of us, this is a protruding mountain. And there is a natural curve in the river. So coupled with the support of a separate hill, it will form the eddy. The sand is rolled up and discharged across this part of the sandflank spillway into the outer river. We can get to this site to look at how the water and the mountain come to one. Yes, beautiful scenery. And this is a totally man-made stair in order to protect that little hill. We call it a separated hill. We can see that the water is very green. Yes, because the water is through the fishmouth and the second part of the sandflank spillway. The water is clean and less sediment will flow through that part of the precious bottleneck flowing to the Quanlu plain to irrigate. That little hill and that mountain we call the Yulei Mountain was originally merged into one existence. There was no this channel. This whole mountain blocks the main Zhang river flowing to the Quanlu plain, pulling drought in the east and flooding in the west. Then the key to solve the problem lies in drilling the Yulei Mountain to open up a gap, which is the precious bottleneck. Li Bin, the chief engineer of Dujiangyan, guided workers to fire the hard rocks and then poured the cold water onto the hard rocks. After eight years work, the water inlet was full. We must praise the Asian Chinese people for their hard work. The precious bottleneck used its fastest ways to construct and control the water flowing to the Quanlu plain, which is the natural gate. Okay, we shall continue. So, after the Feixia Yan, then there's the Baobingkou. This is the first part of the precious bottleneck. The whole project is composed of three main parts. First we say is the fish mouth divides one river into two parts, the inner river and the outer river. The second part is the sandflank spillway. Yes. And the third part is the precious bottleneck. That together make it Dujiangyan, the irrigation system, the drilling operation. And then that part is also a spillway. Yes. You mean the water on the right? Yes. There's some workers there? Yes, through that spillway when the water flow is as large and excessive water will through that on the right spillway flow to the outer river. So this is another spillway. Wow, it is complicated. So right now I think I have more knowledge of Dujiangyan than maybe 10 minutes earlier. Then we will see some workers because they are prepared for the coming soon the water releasing festival. They make the bamboo cages filled with stones and put the bamboo cage loaded with stones on the matcha wooden tripods. Yes. So to block and or cut off some water. Oh, I think in front of us there are some workers. So there I think there's the water release day. Is that what they are preparing for? Because the Dujiangyan has been functioning for over 2,000 years because of the strict annual repair. The Mingzhang river carries a lot of sediment. Asian Chinese people used the combination of bamboo cages filled with stones and matcha wooden tripods to block water for dredging. After the completion of annual repair, people held a grass ceremony at Qingming festival. So worshiping ancestors, cutting the ropes and releasing the surging water. The Dujiangyan water releasing festival commemorates the constructor Li Bing and delivers the best wishes for good harvest every year. On April 3rd of this year, we will hold the water releasing ceremony. Okay, so what makes Dujiangyan truly unique is that it's not a static relic but a living heritage. Well protected and innovative used in modern times. So with scientific contemporary protection measures, its original ancient engineering structure has been perfectly preserved and its water management system has been optimized with modern technology. To this day, it continues to nourish millions of people and sustain the prosperity of the land of abundance. What modern systematic protection measures have helped keep Dujiangyan functioning for over 2,000 years? Actually in modern times, we still adhere to the annual repair system inherited by Asian Chinese people. But we use scientific and systematic modern techniques to protect this whole project. Besides using drones to achieve regular inspection, digital twin system and plan 4 are also applied to Dujiangyan's inspection and protections. Yeah, so and I think in past water release day, first of all, some foreign friends will come here to experience the Dujiangyan culture in person. So in terms of international exchanges, can you tell us more about Dujiangyan? As one of the world heritage sites, Dujiangyan attracts many foreign visitors every year. For example, last year, more than 217,000 foreigners came to Dujiangyan and Mount Qingcheng scenic area. During the work, I find that no matter where the visitors are from, they will feel amazed about this project. They said that they feel the charm of traditional Chinese culture and Chinese philosophy contained in this project when they visit. As an English tour guide of Dujiangyan scenic area, I'm ready to tell the story of Dujiangyan irrigation project to everyone. Okay, so thank you, Ms. Pan, and thank you for telling us the stories of Dujiangyan. Okay, can you like share what your experience today? We didn't do any, we didn't take any guides, but yeah, it was very interesting. I've heard that it was built 2,000 years ago, so this was, yeah, very impressive that it still operates as far as I know. Oh yeah, yes. Where are you from? Russia. So any, where else you plan to go? We're going next to Hong Kong. Oh, yeah, have a good time. Yeah, thank you. And can I have your name? Albert. Albert? Okay, okay, have a good time. Thank you. Thank you. How do you feel today? Oh, so he says it's a big project and very smart. Oh, so he also feels the wisdom of ancient Chinese people. Okay, so as our journey through Dujiangyan comes to an end, we're still in awe of this 2,200-year-old masterpiece, and it tells us a timeless philosophy to work with nature, not against it. So Dujiangyan stands as a powerful example that ancient wisdom can still guide modern solutions, especially in a world facing growing water challenges. Thank you for joining us, and see you next time.