Monday, March 13, 2006

China : Dujiangyan (都江堰)

The Dujiangyan Irrigation System (都江堰) is one of the oldest irrigation systems still in operation. The 2000+ years old (yeah, 2000+ years old!!) irrigation system that still works today. This is a historical irrigation system constructed around 256 BC by governor Li Bing (李冰) in the Qin dysnasty. In order to build this irrigation system, it was necessary to cut a path through the mountains on the bank of the Minjiang River. The Dujiangyan Irrigation System was put on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2000.

Bird's eye view of the Dujiangyan Irrigation Project from the balcony in Qinyan Tower (秦堰楼).

Misty day. 朦朦胧胧的风景才是最吸引人的风景 ?
Another bird's eye view of the Dujiangyan Irrigation Project from different angle.

View from the ancient Song Mao Road.

The Anlan Suspension Bridge (安澜桥) with the length of 261 metres. It was formerly known as the Fuqi Bridge (夫妻桥 or Husband and Wife Bridge).

The suspension bridge is very shaky when a number of us walked on the bridge at the same time. It was a bit scary initially cos of the shaking, but soon I'm used to it and can walk in fast pace across the 261 metres bridge.

View from the Anlan Cable Suspension Bridge, overlooking the raging water of the Min River.

凉 面 or Cold noodle? That is one of the popular hawker food in Dujiangyan. The noodle is indeed cold. Not my cup of tea. I still prefer noodle in hot soup ..

Roadside souveneir stall on the other side of the Anlan bridge.

The Erwang Temple (二 王庙 or two kings' temple), located near the Dujiangyan Irrigation Project. It was built as a tribute to Li Bing and his son.

27 comments:

c a r c a r said...

i also posted up some photo from china! hehe...

how come the bridge looks so 'firm' and yet shaky ya? maybe they do not have any structure underneathe to support it...

and is it very misty over there? the photo looks a little bit dull in color, or the sceney are in that color originally :P ..maybe hor..

c a r c a r said...

oops, it is a suspension bridge. i thought because you are too heavy that's why the bridge shake!


*shake a bom bom*

cabut first, bye!

Chen said...

carcar,
aiyah, suspension bridge mah..
what u expect? hahhahha...

yeah, it was misty :) I edit the post liao :D

Chen said...

carcar,
btw, misty also nice mah..
朦朦胧胧 ...
made the pict looks blur
hahahha...

Selba said...

Souvenir stall on the roadside, that is a must to see!!! hehehe
Did you buy any souvenir?

Robin CHAN said...

The Dujiangyan Irrigation System diverts water from the Minjiang River, supplying Chengdu with fresh water and preventing floods. An important part is the dike Yuzui which separates the Minjiang River into the inner river seen in this photo and the outer river on the other side.

The diversion gate Baopingkou allows excess water to continue down the Minjiang river.

Hope u have seen all that!

Anonymous said...

Nice pics. But looks like the place is a bit quiet, not many tourists?

Chen said...

selba,
ahhaha.. I presume u like to buy souveneirs.. The souveneirs sold here are more expensive than other places.. In China, we really have to bargain when we buy things :D

Yeap, I bought some, but mainly from other places...

robin,
Thanks for the detailed info.. I'm lazy to write all the details :D

Yeah, I have seen that :)

jacky,
I purposely waited till when not so many tourists around then I snap the photos :D

Chen said...

jacky,
but definitely the tourists at this place is not as many as in Jiuzhaigou.. there are hundreds here, but thousands in Jiuzhaigou.

gus said...

Wow! You certainly covered many places and history in that China trip. Tell me doc, how many days did it take and how dead were your feet by the end of it? With all these stories, you could publish a book - your travel journal of China. You could sell the right to the travel agent as a concise guide of what they offer their customers for this tour of China.

sbanboy said...

Man... I am so overdued for a trip to somewhere. I want to go to China now !!!! Oh duh ... well I will settle for Hong Kong this end of May irregardless of my exams results.

Me and my sis planning to check out the packages during the Matta fair this Sat.

Chen said...

agus,
6 days.. fully utilised..
Well, we were tired by the end of the days, but who cares :D It is once in a life time (at least to me..) travel to these areas...

writing a book? hahhaa.. good idea :D can consider that :P (can get some side income also, hahaha)

sbanboy,
Yeah, I know your plan of going to HK after your exam together with your sister :) It is good to give ourselves a break from work.. :)

Daniel Yiek said...

Chen: 1) did u join a tour or was it Free & Easy
2) which website do u use for translation into Chinese characters

Cynthia said...

nice view...your china trip post.. like endless one =)

Francis Ho said...

I'll throw myself into the raging Minjiang River if I went there and didn't kayak on it! ;)

China is such an immense country to explore. *sigh*

Chen said...

daniel,
I joined tour. If going for free & easy, have to plan many things before hand :)

I type in the chinese character myself, didn't use any translation tools.

cynthia,
Hahaha.. yeah loh..
seems like endless..
there are more to comes actually..

fh2o,
Wah.. don't throw yourself into the raging river lah..
When u want to start exploring China? :)

c a r c a r said...

朦朦胧胧的风景才是最吸引人的风景 ?

*笑到在地上滚来滚去*

ok lah...misty beauty secretly...

but others endless photo are ok, clear and beautiful, and endless...

Chen said...

carcar,
wah.. no need to 笑到在地上滚来滚去..
later your baju becomes dirty :D

Vagabonder said...

Hey, beautiful pictures, I visited China South parts last year, and loved everything. Have to go back soon.

Are you currently in China? I was in KL last September, stayed in the Golden Triangle for alomost a week, visited the butterflies garden, and ate too much good foods ;-)

thanks for visiting blog

Anonymous said...

i can imagine the scenery suited for a mystery video clips..imagine a monster coming out from the lake...put up a vios signboard, then came a person having a closer look, suddenly that person gobbled up by the monster.

what's the temperature like?

oh...im imagining things...

Van Cong Tu said...

China is one of the place I always wanting to go. Where is the best place to visit? I think I will make it at the end of this year.

Chen said...

thao,
I'm now in Penang, Malaysia :) I went to China end of January this year for a short vacation.

nurul,
hahha.. u can become narrator :)
It is good to imagine things once in a while, or else life will become boring :P Oops.. I hope I won't imaging things when I review scans later on..

I can't remember the exact temperature.. If not mistaken it was less than 10 degree celcius.

godknows,
There are too many nice places to visit in China. Each places have their own attractions. I will go back to China again.. my 4th visit :D

Chen said...

zuhri,
to me, the food tastes alright (except the fish cos full of bones !! High chance of getting choked with fish bones if not careful :P ).. but if u like hot and spicy taste, then u can bring your own supply of chilli & sambal from Malaysia (some of my friends do that..)

miracle8 said...

Hi Dr Chen,
It was cloudy as well when I visited Dujiangyan (as you would have seen from my pics). Ah... the wonders of China. I can't wait to go back again.

Chen said...

miracle8,
yeah, I saw from your picture :) I will surely go back to China again..

Sleepyhead said...

Those pics woke up my nostalgia for that small town where I spent 3 days before my leaving from Southwest China. Thanks.

Chen said...

木耳 Woods' Ear,
Thanks for dropping by.
Too many nice places to visit in China. I have visited China 3 times and I will definitely go back there again in the future :)