Dujiangyan: Changes and Constants in 2279

CHENGDU, China, Dec. 7, 2023 /CNW/ — As 2023 comes to a close, international students from countries such as France, Canada, Colombia are gearing up to visit Dujiangyan to experience its hydraulic culture. Now 2279 years old, known as the “originator of world hydraulic culture,” Dujiangyan reveals its changes and constants to visitors from different nationalities.

Built by Li Bing, the governor of Shu during the Warring States period, Dujiangyan is a comprehensive hydraulic project integrating irrigation, flood control, drainage, ecology, production, and urban water supply. It has been listed in the World Cultural Heritage and the World Irrigation Engineering Heritage. The World Heritage Committee praises Dujiangyan as the “oldest and only remaining grand hydraulic project with the characteristic of water diversion without a dam in the world.”

The development of this ancient irrigation system has never stopped.

Dujiangyan nourishes the vast and fertile Chengdu Plain, irrigating an area occupying less than one-twentieth of the Sichuan province’s land but concentrating a third of its population. It contributes a quarter of the province’s grain output and nearly half of the regional GDP, playing an irreplaceable role in safeguarding the “granary of Tianfu” and promoting the high-quality development of the Chengdu Plain Economic Zone.

The millennium-old Dujiangyan is not just an engineering marvel but a continuation of effective management.

Today, the Sichuan Dujiangyan Water Conservancy Development Center takes the construction of an internationally renowned and domestically top-notch irrigation area as a new starting point. Leveraging modern information technologies such as cloud computing, big data, the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and digital twins, the center strengthens the construction of smart irrigation area and the development of Dujiangyan as a global center for water culture, painting a new picture of harmonious coexistence between humans and water.

Representing a lineage of water management including the creator Li Bing, the water conservators of past generations have devoted themselves to the well-being of the people. Embracing the spirit of Li Bing, they have explored and showcased a magnificent picture of harmonious coexistence between humans and nature to the world. This reflects the spirit of “controlling water to prosper the nation, learning from nature, seeking truth and innovation, and achieving harmony between humans and water.”