Dujiangyan Irrigation System
Dujiangyan is an irrigation infra-structure built in 256 BC during the Warring States Period of China by the Kingdom of Qin. It is located in the Min River in Sichuan Province, near the capital Chengdu. It is still in use today and still irrigates over 5,300 square kilometers of land in the region.
After the system was finished, no more floods occurred. The irrigation made Sichuan the most productive agricultural place in China. Li Bing was loved so much that he became a god to the people there. On the east side of Dujiangyan, people built a shrine in remembrance of Li Bing.
Li Bing's construction is also credited with giving the people of the region a laid-back attitude to life, by eliminating disaster and insuring a regular and bountiful harvest it has left them with plenty of free-time.
Today, Dujiangyan has become a major tourist attraction. It is also the admiration of scientists around the world, because it has one ingenious feature. Unlike contemporary dams where the water is blocked with a huge wall, Dujiangyan still lets water go through naturally. Modern dams do not let fish go through very well, since each dam is a wall and the water levels are different. In 2000, Dujiangyan became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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