Over 2,200 years ago, the Min River in Sichuan flooded constantly. Li Bing and his sons designed a clever project: Dujiangyan. Instead of a dam, it splits the river in two — one branch irrigates the Chengdu Plain, the other flows on.
Dujiangyan uses the "fish mouth" to divide water, the "flying sand weir" to drain silt, and the "bottleneck mouth" to control flow — managing floods through nature's own forces. The Chengdu Plain became the "Land of Abundance", safe from drought and flood, with good harvests every year.
Dujiangyan is a World Heritage Site still in use today — the "longest-lived" irrigation system in the world. From Chengdu, take the high-speed rail to Dujiangyan city and see this two-thousand-year-old wisdom.
Dujiangyan is an irrigation project built around 256 BC by Li Bing, governor of Shu under the Qin state, and his son. It has been in continuous use for over 2,200 years, still irrigating the Chengdu Plain - a marvel of water-engineering history.
Its genius design: three main parts - the Fish Mouth dividing levee, the Flying Sand Weir, and the Bottle Neck channel. The Fish Mouth splits the Min River into an inner channel (irrigation) and an outer one (flood discharge); the weir automatically drains sand and floodwater; the Bottle Neck regulates intake. There is no dam at all - everything works with terrain and water flow.
The wisdom of "diverter without dam": instead of a barrage, the Fish Mouth naturally splits flow - in flood season roughly 60% goes to the outer channel and 40% to the inner; in dry season the ratio reverses. It embodies the Chinese philosophy of working with nature, not conquering it.
Li Bing motto "dredge the riverbed deep, keep the weir low" remains a classic principle in hydraulics textbooks. Every winter locals perform "sui xiu" maintenance dredging - a tradition unbroken for 2,000 years.
Visit: tickets RMB 80, open 8:00-18:00; about 30-40 minutes from Chengdu by intercity train. Highlights include Erwang Temple (honouring Li Bing), the Anlan suspension bridge, Bottle Neck and Lidui. Allow half a day to a full day.
In 2000 Dujiangyan and Mount Qingcheng were jointly listed as World Heritage. With extra time, combine Dujiangyan with Qingcheng (a Taoist mountain) into a one-day trip balancing engineering and nature.
A family-friendly tip: Dujiangyan is ideal with children. The site has water-flow demonstration models showing how the Fish Mouth splits and the weir drains sand; children love crossing the swaying Anlan Bridge. With kids, do Dujiangyan in the morning, then the panda base or Mount Qingcheng in the afternoon - active and calm combined, a full day.
A clarifying point: Dujiangyan and Li Bing are in Sichuan, the Zhengguo Canal in Shaanxi, and the Lingqu in Guangxi - all famous ancient waterworks but with different eras, functions and locations. Keeping them straight avoids embarrassment. Dujiangyan still irrigates over 11 million mu of farmland today - an ancient project still alive, the most astonishing part.
Finally, extend Dujiangyan spirit to your own studies: its success lies in going with the flow - not damming the flood but guiding it. Learning Chinese works the same way: do not force rote memorisation; find your own method (interest-driven, scenario-based practice) and follow the natural patterns of the language - results improve. This is what Chinese call guiding things according to circumstances.
