Spring Festival - Chengdu Day 7: Dujiangyan Irrigation System
I woke up feeling much, much better. We decided to get breakfast at the XiPu station, but were a bit disappointed with the lack of options available to us when we got there. We ate this fried stuffed bread thing that made your tongue tingle, and drank rice porridge. The bullet train platform was near the platform for the metro you just need to go into the building to the left and around the back to get to the bullet train waiting area. While we waited for our train to be called we ate breakfast. It was a 45 minute ride to the stop for the Dujiangyan Irrigation System.
When we got off the train we immediately went and bought our return ticket. There was a very angry man at the ticket window yelling at the lady, saying that she was stupid. He was angry about the types of tickets he had to purchase for children or something. Eventually, she left and got a manager and the man was forcibly dealt with.
We got on a bus that would take us to the Dujiangyan Irrigation System. It was about a 20 minute ride. We were let off in a parking lot at the base of the irrigation system complex. The complex included the mountains and temples around the river where the irrigation system was situated.
There were two ticket options, one to the complex and then the other included the complex and a climb in the pagoda at the top of one of the mountains. We decided to go into the pagoda. When you buy the ticket you get a free ride in a van halfway up to the top of mountain. The van we rode in was a minivan, like you would see in the US; however, it was the first van of the kind that I had seen in China!
Dujiangyan Irrigation System
It was first built in 256 BCE it takes advantage of the landform around it and works without a dam, integrating irrigation, water distribution, flood and sand discharge. It does flood prevention, irrigation and water transport; servicing 668,700 hectares of farmland and more for over 2250 years!
This entrance to the irrigation system started with the first of two escalators that brought you to the top of the mountain. This is the first mountain in China to have an ancient building converted to have an escalator in it. And it was a very steep escalator. After the first escalator there is a short walk which includes a glimpse of the river until you get to the second escalator. After the escalator there is a bit of a viewing platform so you can get a view of the fast moving river we even noticed that the snow and rock of a distant mountain formed a heart-shape, can you see it?
All the signs at the complex were in Chinese, English and German at least and I believe Korean and Japanese as well (most of the time). The history and information were at least in Chinese and English, and occasionally in the other languages as well. The titles were always in all the languages. One particular sign when Angeline and I got there, there were other people blocking a clear view of the sign. I could only read the German so I read the two sentence description. Angeline likes to read the English on the signs to practice and sometimes the Japanese as well. So we were still standing there when everyone else left and I could see the whole sign. That was when I noticed that the English on the sign was a whole paragraph! And much more detailed then the German! The Korean, Japanese, and even the Chinese looked shorter than the English on that sign!
The pagoda was dedicated to the poet DuFu who had climbed the mountain (then called Panlong Mountain) and composed a poem ‘The Silken River bright with spring and the Jade Peak surrounded by clouds’. The name of the mountain was later changed to Yulei which means Jade Peak. The Pagoda had been destroyed by earthquake, but is high on the list of buildings that need to be reconstructed in the case of earthquakes. The inside of the pagoda was all steep and narrow staircases and smooth slippery marble. There were six floors and an elevator that went from the second floor to the fourth floor (if I remember right). We didn’t know about the elevator at first, until we saw a couple of people step out of it on the fourth floor. You can walk around the balcony on the fifth and sixth floor. Inside of the pagoda on the sixth floor is a large bell. On the way down we decided to take the elevator as the slippery steep stairs were dangerous.
At the base of the pagoda there was a statue that commemorated ‘Li Bing patrolling the Minjiang River’, which he had done in the Qin Dynasty at about 256 BCE. He built the Dujiang Weir ‘as the only one dam-free irrigation works at the exit of Minjiang River’.
After the pagoda we headed down the other side of the mountain towards the river. The weather also improved so that for a while I didn’t wear my winter jacket or my sweatshirt. We came across some of the smaller pavilion, which (including the pavilion that was where the pagoda stands now) was one of the drum pavilions. The rivers and the mountain around the plains were separated and this included a lot of minorities so the drums were beat to discourage fighting.
We walked along a cliff’s edge path that led to a viewing platform that had a great view of the rushing water. The story was that there was a great black dragon that lived in the river that needed to be appeased so that Li Bing could build the Dujiang Weir. The dragon was not appeased by their efforts and so Li Bing jumped into the river and turned into an angry bull, the dragon turned into a rhinoceros and they battled for a while. Then Li Bing jumped out of the river changed into a man and told his men that he was the beast in the river that had a ribbon about his wrist; and then he dove back into the river. Once his men were able to see the ribbon they shot arrows into the dragon and killed him. The pavilion marked the spot that the battle was supposed to have taken place.
Once we got to level ground we turned away from the river and went a bit into the woods towards the mountains and temples. We stopped to use the restroom, it was called an ‘Environmental Toilet’ I believe. In essence it was an outhouse, the older ones with no water or flushing ability. It was the cleanest and nicest smelling public toilet I have ever been in, in China. And that is saying something; they even had hooks for bags!
We climbed back up into the mountains, a bit, again. This gave us a good view of some of the water works and the irrigation system that was more on display, and one of my favourite views. We went down into a little shopping street. It was getting on noon and a lot of people asked if we wanted to have lunch. Most of this was the quick instant noodle type lunches, which we declined. We went into a building that chronicled the history and geography of the irrigation system, if I remember right only in Chinese. That led us back to the river before we went into the ErWang temple.
The temple was built into the sides and up the mountain, so we climbed many steps, saw minor shrines and went through many gates, before we truly got inside. The main hall was huge! And it was flanked by these red mini-pagoda-things. A lot of the buildings were close together, which made for narrow paths and interesting angles. Some of the shrines included: The Hall of the Dragon King, Laojun “Virtuous Supreme Lord” Palace, and the Hall of Goddess Holy Mother. There was an old pavilion that housed the Old wood of the Shang Dynasty, it is the oldest and most precious tree trunk in China. There were some good views of mountains over rooftops as well. The view of the complex from the top, which seemed to be more trees then buildings, which was nice and so was the stepped appearance of the top from below.
After we went back to the river and crossed the Anlan or Couples Bridge, which is a rope bridge that crosses over the Inner and Outer rivers at 261 metres long. We only were able to cross the first part of the river, but there were lots to see on the islet in the river, which I’m pretty sure was the Yuzui Water-dividing Dike. There was a display set up (most likely for professional pictures) that included some of the old tools that they used for irrigation and a good view of the modern stone replacement. The railing depicted the ancient irrigation system in use. We also got to see the more modern water system up close.
The path led us back towards the gate where we bought our tickets since we didn’t want to turn around and go all the way back. There were no more interesting buildings to see so we paid 10 RMB for each of us to take a shuttle back. We were dropped off right by a souvenir shop. Chengdu/Sichuan is famous for spicy food, bamboo, and panda bears. I wanted to get a souvenir for myself that looked like a realistic panda instead of a cartoon. The stand had a stuffed panda that looked more realistic than most. At first the seller said 30 RMB and then switched to 35 RMB but I decided it was the best time to get one since I was leaving Chengdu the next day and got the panda bear. We were also really close to the river bed then we ever were and also on the opposite side of the river. And I was sure that I was at the spots that I enjoyed looking down on the water, looking up from the water. We walked by the Feishayan spillway and one of the older and disused structures of the irrigation system. We also walked across another rope bridge, but it was over a mostly dry river bed.
We walked around the green park area by the river. There was another temple but it was once more a lot of steps and we decided that we did not have the time or energy to look at the temple. We did walk through a small bonsai garden. The entrance of which looked very cool as it appeared that you go through two doors to be faced with a framed picture of a waterfall. It was a very nice and peaceful garden.
We went briefly into the ancient town for lunch, by going through a long covered bridge. There were a lot of people dressed up as characters, such as: Micky Mouse and the Monkey King for tourist to get their picture taken with, which drew away from the aesthetic of the bridge. We didn’t walk far, and went to a Muslim restaurant that wasn’t noodles. We had 豆花牛柳 dou4hua1niu2liu3, which is the cooked tofu curd covered in a spicy beef sauce, 粉蒸排骨fen3zheng1pai2gu3 which is beef and ground glutinous rice, and a radish and seaweed soup, which was my least favourite.
We didn’t have enough time to take the bus back to the train station to catch the bullet train that we purchased a ticket for. So we tried to catch a taxi, but the Dujiangyan Irrigation System was the end of the road. We finally got an off duty taxi, the driver was picking up his wife and kid from the Dujiangyan Irrigation System during his break. So we waited for a while before we left. Luckily we caught our train!
On the train I decided to name my panda bear. The name ‘Po’ was stuck in my head probably because of KungFu Panda. But I also wanted to use ‘Pan’ because before I learned Chinese I thought Panda derived from the Chinese, but it doesn’t Giant Panda in Chinese is 大熊猫 da4 xiong2mao1 (where 大 means big, 熊 means bear, and 猫 means cat). So I decided that the Panda’s name would be Po Pan and I would figure out how to write it and the meaning later.
Angeline got a call from a friend requesting her help to study. So she got off the train early and I went back by myself. When I got to XiPu I didn’t have any singles and the public buses don’t give change. So I bought bubble tea and proudly made it home by myself!
I decided that my panda would be named魄胖 Po4Pan2, which means Healthy Soul. There was a catch though because the character for Pan that I chose is only pronounced Pan2 and means ‘Healthy’ in one phrase in Chinese and according to another dictionary is super formal term for ‘easy and comfortable’. Otherwise it is pronounced Pang4 which means ‘Fat’. But I’m keeping the name.
Dinner
So I went out for Shaokao (Chinese BBQ) with Angeline and her dad. I really wanted to pay for the meal as a thank you, but I was shot down because I was the guest. The shaokao in Sichuan is different from the more northerly provinces. Everything at the shaokao in Sichuan is flavoured the same. But you get more choice when you are choosing your menu; since you pick the skewers you want grilled.
When we got back I took the second cold pill made sure everything was in order and went to bed. The area of the Dujiangyan Irrigation System was really the place I connected to the most in China. But in the same instant I could see living in Chengdu and frequently visiting the outlying areas. If I hadn’t promised Dean that I wouldn’t move to Sichuan, I would move to Sichuan.
When we got off the train we immediately went and bought our return ticket. There was a very angry man at the ticket window yelling at the lady, saying that she was stupid. He was angry about the types of tickets he had to purchase for children or something. Eventually, she left and got a manager and the man was forcibly dealt with.
We got on a bus that would take us to the Dujiangyan Irrigation System. It was about a 20 minute ride. We were let off in a parking lot at the base of the irrigation system complex. The complex included the mountains and temples around the river where the irrigation system was situated.
There were two ticket options, one to the complex and then the other included the complex and a climb in the pagoda at the top of one of the mountains. We decided to go into the pagoda. When you buy the ticket you get a free ride in a van halfway up to the top of mountain. The van we rode in was a minivan, like you would see in the US; however, it was the first van of the kind that I had seen in China!
Dujiangyan Irrigation System
It was first built in 256 BCE it takes advantage of the landform around it and works without a dam, integrating irrigation, water distribution, flood and sand discharge. It does flood prevention, irrigation and water transport; servicing 668,700 hectares of farmland and more for over 2250 years!
This entrance to the irrigation system started with the first of two escalators that brought you to the top of the mountain. This is the first mountain in China to have an ancient building converted to have an escalator in it. And it was a very steep escalator. After the first escalator there is a short walk which includes a glimpse of the river until you get to the second escalator. After the escalator there is a bit of a viewing platform so you can get a view of the fast moving river we even noticed that the snow and rock of a distant mountain formed a heart-shape, can you see it?
All the signs at the complex were in Chinese, English and German at least and I believe Korean and Japanese as well (most of the time). The history and information were at least in Chinese and English, and occasionally in the other languages as well. The titles were always in all the languages. One particular sign when Angeline and I got there, there were other people blocking a clear view of the sign. I could only read the German so I read the two sentence description. Angeline likes to read the English on the signs to practice and sometimes the Japanese as well. So we were still standing there when everyone else left and I could see the whole sign. That was when I noticed that the English on the sign was a whole paragraph! And much more detailed then the German! The Korean, Japanese, and even the Chinese looked shorter than the English on that sign!
The pagoda was dedicated to the poet DuFu who had climbed the mountain (then called Panlong Mountain) and composed a poem ‘The Silken River bright with spring and the Jade Peak surrounded by clouds’. The name of the mountain was later changed to Yulei which means Jade Peak. The Pagoda had been destroyed by earthquake, but is high on the list of buildings that need to be reconstructed in the case of earthquakes. The inside of the pagoda was all steep and narrow staircases and smooth slippery marble. There were six floors and an elevator that went from the second floor to the fourth floor (if I remember right). We didn’t know about the elevator at first, until we saw a couple of people step out of it on the fourth floor. You can walk around the balcony on the fifth and sixth floor. Inside of the pagoda on the sixth floor is a large bell. On the way down we decided to take the elevator as the slippery steep stairs were dangerous.
At the base of the pagoda there was a statue that commemorated ‘Li Bing patrolling the Minjiang River’, which he had done in the Qin Dynasty at about 256 BCE. He built the Dujiang Weir ‘as the only one dam-free irrigation works at the exit of Minjiang River’.
After the pagoda we headed down the other side of the mountain towards the river. The weather also improved so that for a while I didn’t wear my winter jacket or my sweatshirt. We came across some of the smaller pavilion, which (including the pavilion that was where the pagoda stands now) was one of the drum pavilions. The rivers and the mountain around the plains were separated and this included a lot of minorities so the drums were beat to discourage fighting.
We walked along a cliff’s edge path that led to a viewing platform that had a great view of the rushing water. The story was that there was a great black dragon that lived in the river that needed to be appeased so that Li Bing could build the Dujiang Weir. The dragon was not appeased by their efforts and so Li Bing jumped into the river and turned into an angry bull, the dragon turned into a rhinoceros and they battled for a while. Then Li Bing jumped out of the river changed into a man and told his men that he was the beast in the river that had a ribbon about his wrist; and then he dove back into the river. Once his men were able to see the ribbon they shot arrows into the dragon and killed him. The pavilion marked the spot that the battle was supposed to have taken place.
Once we got to level ground we turned away from the river and went a bit into the woods towards the mountains and temples. We stopped to use the restroom, it was called an ‘Environmental Toilet’ I believe. In essence it was an outhouse, the older ones with no water or flushing ability. It was the cleanest and nicest smelling public toilet I have ever been in, in China. And that is saying something; they even had hooks for bags!
We climbed back up into the mountains, a bit, again. This gave us a good view of some of the water works and the irrigation system that was more on display, and one of my favourite views. We went down into a little shopping street. It was getting on noon and a lot of people asked if we wanted to have lunch. Most of this was the quick instant noodle type lunches, which we declined. We went into a building that chronicled the history and geography of the irrigation system, if I remember right only in Chinese. That led us back to the river before we went into the ErWang temple.
The temple was built into the sides and up the mountain, so we climbed many steps, saw minor shrines and went through many gates, before we truly got inside. The main hall was huge! And it was flanked by these red mini-pagoda-things. A lot of the buildings were close together, which made for narrow paths and interesting angles. Some of the shrines included: The Hall of the Dragon King, Laojun “Virtuous Supreme Lord” Palace, and the Hall of Goddess Holy Mother. There was an old pavilion that housed the Old wood of the Shang Dynasty, it is the oldest and most precious tree trunk in China. There were some good views of mountains over rooftops as well. The view of the complex from the top, which seemed to be more trees then buildings, which was nice and so was the stepped appearance of the top from below.
After we went back to the river and crossed the Anlan or Couples Bridge, which is a rope bridge that crosses over the Inner and Outer rivers at 261 metres long. We only were able to cross the first part of the river, but there were lots to see on the islet in the river, which I’m pretty sure was the Yuzui Water-dividing Dike. There was a display set up (most likely for professional pictures) that included some of the old tools that they used for irrigation and a good view of the modern stone replacement. The railing depicted the ancient irrigation system in use. We also got to see the more modern water system up close.
The path led us back towards the gate where we bought our tickets since we didn’t want to turn around and go all the way back. There were no more interesting buildings to see so we paid 10 RMB for each of us to take a shuttle back. We were dropped off right by a souvenir shop. Chengdu/Sichuan is famous for spicy food, bamboo, and panda bears. I wanted to get a souvenir for myself that looked like a realistic panda instead of a cartoon. The stand had a stuffed panda that looked more realistic than most. At first the seller said 30 RMB and then switched to 35 RMB but I decided it was the best time to get one since I was leaving Chengdu the next day and got the panda bear. We were also really close to the river bed then we ever were and also on the opposite side of the river. And I was sure that I was at the spots that I enjoyed looking down on the water, looking up from the water. We walked by the Feishayan spillway and one of the older and disused structures of the irrigation system. We also walked across another rope bridge, but it was over a mostly dry river bed.
We walked around the green park area by the river. There was another temple but it was once more a lot of steps and we decided that we did not have the time or energy to look at the temple. We did walk through a small bonsai garden. The entrance of which looked very cool as it appeared that you go through two doors to be faced with a framed picture of a waterfall. It was a very nice and peaceful garden.
We went briefly into the ancient town for lunch, by going through a long covered bridge. There were a lot of people dressed up as characters, such as: Micky Mouse and the Monkey King for tourist to get their picture taken with, which drew away from the aesthetic of the bridge. We didn’t walk far, and went to a Muslim restaurant that wasn’t noodles. We had 豆花牛柳 dou4hua1niu2liu3, which is the cooked tofu curd covered in a spicy beef sauce, 粉蒸排骨fen3zheng1pai2gu3 which is beef and ground glutinous rice, and a radish and seaweed soup, which was my least favourite.
We didn’t have enough time to take the bus back to the train station to catch the bullet train that we purchased a ticket for. So we tried to catch a taxi, but the Dujiangyan Irrigation System was the end of the road. We finally got an off duty taxi, the driver was picking up his wife and kid from the Dujiangyan Irrigation System during his break. So we waited for a while before we left. Luckily we caught our train!
On the train I decided to name my panda bear. The name ‘Po’ was stuck in my head probably because of KungFu Panda. But I also wanted to use ‘Pan’ because before I learned Chinese I thought Panda derived from the Chinese, but it doesn’t Giant Panda in Chinese is 大熊猫 da4 xiong2mao1 (where 大 means big, 熊 means bear, and 猫 means cat). So I decided that the Panda’s name would be Po Pan and I would figure out how to write it and the meaning later.
Angeline got a call from a friend requesting her help to study. So she got off the train early and I went back by myself. When I got to XiPu I didn’t have any singles and the public buses don’t give change. So I bought bubble tea and proudly made it home by myself!
I decided that my panda would be named魄胖 Po4Pan2, which means Healthy Soul. There was a catch though because the character for Pan that I chose is only pronounced Pan2 and means ‘Healthy’ in one phrase in Chinese and according to another dictionary is super formal term for ‘easy and comfortable’. Otherwise it is pronounced Pang4 which means ‘Fat’. But I’m keeping the name.
Dinner
So I went out for Shaokao (Chinese BBQ) with Angeline and her dad. I really wanted to pay for the meal as a thank you, but I was shot down because I was the guest. The shaokao in Sichuan is different from the more northerly provinces. Everything at the shaokao in Sichuan is flavoured the same. But you get more choice when you are choosing your menu; since you pick the skewers you want grilled.
When we got back I took the second cold pill made sure everything was in order and went to bed. The area of the Dujiangyan Irrigation System was really the place I connected to the most in China. But in the same instant I could see living in Chengdu and frequently visiting the outlying areas. If I hadn’t promised Dean that I wouldn’t move to Sichuan, I would move to Sichuan.