Dujiangyan Irrigation System

The Dujiangyan is a irrigation system that was built in 256BC and is located in the Min River. It irrigates over 5,300 square kilometers of land and is the oldest dam free irrigation system in the world. Originally, this irrigation system was built to remove the excess water from the mountains that had melting ice which would flood the grounds below. Now, this is used for access to a good supply of water for agriculture. The irrigation system was build by the Qin governor Li Bind and it is now considered a world heritage site. The Dujiangyan irrigation system follows a 3 piece system with the Yuzui or fish mouth in the front. It is a artificial levee that divides the water into the inner and outer stream. The inner stream carries water when the season is dry and the outer stream carries away excess water. The second part of the system is the Feishayan or the Flying Sand Weir. It is a 200 meter wide opening that connects both the inner and outer stream and is used to drain out water to protect against flooding. The last piece is the Baopingkou or the bottle neck channel, this is the last part that is pierced through the moutain and it distributes water to the farmlands and protects the land against flooding by creating whirlpools to carry extra water away. This was interesting because I did not know China has a strong piece of history as creating the oldest dam free irrigation system that still works today.