Diary_Day 7: Ancient Irrigation System

This will always remain for me a magic day.  We went by fast train, around one hundred kilometres north-west to the World Heritage area of the Dujiangyan Irrigation System.

Just getting onto the train was an interesting experience in itself.  We had to go through the usual bag security check that is necessary to enter any station on the Metro system.  But because this was into the countryside, there was also a passport check and we were patted down and had a drug detection device run over our clothing.

 The city of Dujiangyan suffered greatly in the 2008 earthquake.  It was rebuilt in just two years, with donations from Shanghai.  Our local guide, Lisa, explained that for the rebuilding of the damaged areas, each affected city had an undamaged city assigned to it, which is why Shanghai money was diverted to the rebuilding of this city.

There is a strong Tibetan influence in Dujiangyan. Lisa told us several interesting cultural stories.  Apparently the houses have white stones on their roofs in memory of the legend that an ancient had a vision that if they washed a white stone in the blood of a dog, they would be protected from their enemies.  She also told us that because the Tibetans were nomadic, wealth could not be displayed in housing and so it was displayed in the jewellery of the women, particularly in earrings.

In the area leading to the irrigation system, there is a wonderful village of traditional architecture. It reminded me very much of a Sovereign Hill type of place.  Here we found whole streets of shops selling souvenirs of every kind.  Naturally we all went crazy, buying trinkets for just a few dollars each.  There were also many places to buy food and we loved a tasty Chinese pancake made with spring onion, egg and meat.  I have also become very fond of toffee crab apples which are strung on a stick, five to each stick.

Throughout the village there were beautiful photographs, taken in the early part of the 20^th century.  They depict the local people going about their daily lives.  In each case, the photographs have been enlarged to become wall-size murals and a particular part of the foreground has been brought out in 3D form – the rim of a basket, the head of a horse, the leaves on the vines being carried in a basket.  The photographs were taken by two particular men.  One was Zhuang Xueben (1909 – 1984).  Over ten years, he documented in word and photograph, the ethnic minority regions of western China, taking more than 10,000 photographs and writing millions of words in reports and diaries. The other photographer was Sidney David Gamble (1890-1968) and American sociologist, economist, humanitarian and photographer. Over three different periods of several years between 1917 and 1932, he  volunteered his time in China, joining the YMCA of Beijing and working in charge of social surveys of Chinese civilian education.

At the end of the village was a most beautiful old bridge.  It is frustrating that we cannot really get reliable information about these places.  However old, it was beautifully ornate and completely roofed over.  In times gone by, it would have had traders selling their wares all along both sides of it.

From there we entered the area of the irrigation system.  As mentioned before, it has a AAAAA rating as a World Heritage area.  The irrigation system was built 2200 years ago, during the the Qin dynasty, in response to the need of the people for fertile land.  The Sichuan plain was recognized as having fertile soil, but the annual cycle of drought and then flood meant that it could not reach its potential.  The Emperor had this ingenious system built and ever since, the Sichuan plain has  been an area of abundance.

We entered through most beautiful gardens with ponds of huge gold fish.  Statues of prominent people of the past lined the way.  An ingenious system of large stones encased in tubes of woven bamboo were displayed as well as tripods of timber. Both were important aspects of the irrigation system in ancient times, being used for damming water and for flood control. I find it fascinating that the Chinese were working on this solution to water problems at exactly the same time that the ancient Romans were also working on water supply with the building of aquaducts.

Past Fulong Temple, the place where Li Bing, governor of this prefecture in 250BC is said to have subdued an evil dragon, the path opened out to the most spectacular scene. There was the mighty flowing river with the mountains in the background.  Although heavy with grey cloud, we could still see mountains behind mountains behind mountains – such a wonderful vista.  Dotted throughout the surrounding hills, we could see pagoda and traditional Chinese homes.

The walk took us about two kilometres along the river, with a photograph at every turn. There were two very long swinging bridges that had to be crossed, both with bamboo ropes for suspension.  The whole way was lined with traders, one of them with steamed corn on the cob – a very welcome snack. On the way back, I succumbed to the temptation of having a calligraphy banner made.  It reads (in Chinese characters), ‘God helps those who help themselves’ and is written on a beautiful silk background. 

It was a two hour bus ride back to Deyang, during which most of us dozed.  Such had been the dissatisfaction with our Chengdu hotel, that in pulling into the hotel, there was an audible collective sigh of relief to be back ‘at home’ at our Deyang hotel.