As a world-famous water conservancy project, Dujiangyan has few projects that can be matched by its ingenious design, significant role and long service time. Visiting the Dujiangyan Scenic Area in person, you can not only learn more about its specific principles and influences, but also enjoy the surrounding natural scenery, the ancestral temples and monuments commemorating the builders, and the various cultural relics unearthed. Compared with reading Dujiangyan's popular science articles, being in it and witnessing the giant water conservancy project that has been used for more than 2,000 years to subdue the turbulent river, can better appreciate Dujiangyan's ingenious and incomparable.
Dujiangyan was built in the Qin Dynasty, led by Li Bing and his son, the Taishou of Shu County, and built the two main buildings of Yuzui and Baohuakou, which basically laid the pattern of Dujiangyan today. Because the construction principle of Dujiangyan has been applied to the local hydrogeology, the role is prominent, the successive dynasties have attached great importance to it, repeatedly repaired and consolidated, and built structures such as flying sand weirs, which are still used today. The main body and design of the Dujiangyan structure that tourists can see today are similar to those in ancient times, and the role is basically the same, and supporting facilities such as mechanical sluices have been added, and the biggest change is that the building materials have been changed to concrete pouring, which is more solid.
The reason why Dujiangyan is famous is also because of its great significance to the Chengdu Plain. The western Sichuan region has always been rainy, known as "Xishu open-air", so the Minjiang River is rich in water, and it is the first tributary of the Yangtze River. In June, July and August, when the rainfall is concentrated, the Minjiang River often has a flood peak, and when it flows to Dujiangyan and enters the Chengdu Plain, the flow rate is slow down, and it is very easy to cause floods, and the people of Shu suffer from floods. The Dujiangyan Water Conservancy Project builds a diversion channel at the mouth of the fish mouth and the mouth of the treasure bottle, adjusts the water volume with the change of rainfall, and discharges too much river water into the plain for irrigation. Sediment is also a problem for water conservancy projects and irrigation all over the world, and structures such as flying sand weirs and diamond jets solve this problem. Dujiangyan has made Chengdu a "land of abundance" from a treacherous place of "people or adult fish and turtles" to a "country of abundance" with water and drought from people and fertile fields. In addition, the value of Dujiangyan is not limited to water conservancy, but also has a significant impact on the development of Chengdu's urban form and ancient military and political pattern.
In 2000, Dujiangyan was included in the list of "World Cultural Heritage", and Dujiangyan Scenic Area was also rated as a national scenic spot and a national AAAAA-level tourist attraction. The scenic spot is roughly divided into three parts: Lidui Park, water conservancy project and ancestral temple monuments, which are distributed in a ring, it is recommended that tourists enter from the entrance of Lidui Park, visit the water conservancy project and visit the ancestral temple in the mountain, the whole process takes 3-4 hours.
The most well-known attraction in Lidui Park is the Fulong Temple. It is rumored that when Li Bing's father and son controlled the water, they subdued the evil dragon here and left the pile, so the descendants set up a shrine to worship. Fulong view is built on the pile of separation, suspended on three sides, and there are many cultural relics on display in the view. The front hall displays the stone statue of Li Bing unearthed from the riverbed near the fish mouth, which is nearly 3 meters high, the bell reaches 4.5 tons, and there are stone statues such as stone horses and stone figurines. The flying dragon in the main hall is said to be the relic of Princess Tang Yuzhen when she cultivated in Qingcheng Mountain, and the iron tripod is engraved with eight flying dragons and cloud pattern flowers, which is very exquisite.
The Dujiangyan Water Conservancy Project is composed of three main projects: Yuzui, Feishayan and Baohuakou, which cooperate with each other and operate in a coordinated manner, divert water to irrigate fields, and divide floods and reduce disasters. The mouth of the treasure bottle is located behind the Fulongguan, it is an mouth that is artificially chiseled on the long ridge of Yulei Mountain stretching out to the Minjiang River, and it is named because it resembles the mouth of the bottle and has a peculiar function. After opening up Yulei Mountain, the water of the Minjiang River can flow smoothly in the east, and at the same time reduce the amount of water in the west, relieve the drought in the east, and remove the flood in the west, which is very ingenious. In addition, the mouth of the treasure bottle also plays the role of sand discharge together with the flying sand weir on the left. Blasting through ridges is very easy in modern times, and more than 2,000 years ago, there were only tools such as steel drills and hammers, and it was quite long to dig mountains. Li Bing conceived the method of boiling water with fire, using the principle of thermal expansion and cold contraction to make the rock crack, and then excavate, which increased the efficiency a lot. Visitors come here, all sigh at the wisdom of the ancients. At the same time, the treasure bottle mouth is also one of the best viewing points in the scenic spot, visitors stop here, can overlook the Yulei Mountain, Hutou Rock, watch the rushing Minjiang River, point out the pile, Fulong view.
Walk across the rope bridge from Lidui Park, and walk along the Konggang Embankment to the end, and then you will reach the fish mouth. The fish mouth is a water dividing dam built in the middle of the river, and it is named because it resembles a crescent moon and the front section is flat into the water, like a fish mouth. Yuzui divides the raging Min River into the outer river, which is a natural river channel that plays a role in flood drainage, and the inner river, which is the river channel led by Li Bing, which mainly brings irrigation water to the Chengdu Plain. Visitors may wish to take a closer look at the entire water conservancy project. More than 2,000 years ago, the ancients were able to skillfully use the laws of nature to design and build such a huge water conservancy project without destroying nature, so as to achieve the role of diverting and discharging sand and diverting water and discharging floodwater. Many ancient irrigation systems have long lost their effectiveness, and Dujiangyan continues to play a role in the continuous reinforcement and repair of later generations. You may already know the peculiarity of Dujiangyan in history textbooks and news articles, but it is even more shocking to see the turbulent Minjiang River made by Dujiangyan.
After tourists finish watching the fish mouth, they can cross the Anlan rope bridge, enter the mountainous area, and walk all the way to see Qinyan Tower, Erwang Temple, Yuwang Palace, Yulei View and other scenic spots. Erwang Temple is built by the people of Sichuan to commemorate Li Bing's father and son, it was built in the Northern and Southern Dynasties at the beginning, and the existing buildings were built at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China. The statue of Li Bing's father and son is enshrined in the temple, and the stone wall is engraved with the "Three Character Sutra of Water Control", that is, the maxim of Li Bing and his descendants on water control. Throughout the ages, the Erwang Temple has attracted many celebrities to pay homage, leaving the inscription of the patriotic general Feng Yuxiang and the inscription of the famous painter Zhang Daqian and Xu Beihong. The ancient trees in the garden are towering to the sky, and the shade of the trees covers the sun, which has a certain viewing value.
In the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, there were many cracks in the fish mouth, and buildings such as the Erwang Temple and Qinyan Tower were seriously damaged, and they were reopened after several years of repair. Shanghai is the counterpart city of Dujiangyan City, so Dujiangyan Scenic Area has launched preferential policies, and Shanghai citizens can buy tickets with the original price of 90 yuan for 15 yuan with their ID cards. Although Dujiangyan City is under the jurisdiction of Chengdu, it is far away from Chengdu downtown, about 50 kilometers, and tourists can take the express rail to Dujiangyan at Chengdu East Railway Station or Xipu Station.
Suggested visiting time: half a day
Best time to visit: April to October
Indicative fare:
Full ticket: 90 yuan/person
Half ticket: 7-18 years old teenagers and students with a bachelor's degree or below, 60-70 years old
Shanghai household registration 15 yuan/person
Free admission: Seniors aged 70 and above, active military personnel, etc
Opening hours: Winter (December 1 - March 1): 8:00-17:30
Other seasons (2 March – 30 November): 8:00-18:00
Tips：1. If you need to walk for a long time, try to choose comfortable and easy shoes; 2. Bring mosquito repellent and sunscreen products in summer; 3. Tickets must be purchased in cash on site.
