This system of channels, floodgates and weirs, constructed in the 3rd century BC, is the oldest and only surviving non-dam irrigation system in the world. Still in use, this feat of engineering is in a beautifully scenic area with forested hills, ancient temples, hilltop pagodas and coursing waters.
To tame the devastating floods caused by the fast-flowing Mín Jiāng, the region's magistrate Li Bing set a crew of tens of thousands to work. Using sausage-shaped bamboo baskets filled with stones they reshaped the river bends and also cut a 20m-wide channel through Yùlěi Shān. Since gunpowder had yet to be invented, they used fire and water to crack the mountain's hard rock.
Numerous teahouses and restaurants on either side of the decorative South Bridge (南桥; Nán Qiáo), near the park entrance, are good for a bite.
Every April 5, catch elaborately costumed reenactments of the building process, ceremonial sacrifices, and elegies sung to Li Bing at the Water Releasing Festival.
