Dujiangyan () is a

county-level city A county-level municipality (), county-level city or county city, formerly known as prefecture-controlled city (1949–1970: ; 1970–1983: ), is a county-level administrative division of the People's Republic of China. County-level ...

Sichuan Province Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

Southwest China Southwest China () is a region in the south of the People's Republic of China. Geography Southwest China is a rugged and mountainous region, transitioning between the Tibetan Plateau to the west and the Chinese coastal hills (东南丘陵) and ...

, it is under the administration of the

prefecture-level city A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the People's Republic of China (PRC), ranking below a province and above a county in China's administrative structure. During the Republican era, many of China ...

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), alternatively romanized as Chengtu, is a sub-provincial city which serves as the capital of the Chinese pro ...

. Its north-west region forms a border with southern

Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, also known as Aba (; Qiang: ; ), is an autonomous prefecture of northwestern Sichuan, bordering Gansu to the north and northeast and Qinghai to the northwest. Its seat is in Barkam, and it has an ar ...

. It has an area of and had a population of 600,000 in 2003. Dujiangyan was formerly a county named Guanxian or Guan County (). The county became a county-level city in 1988 and was renamed after the

Dujiangyan Irrigation System The Dujiangyan () is an ancient irrigation system in Dujiangyan City, Sichuan, China. Originally constructed around 256 BC by the State of Qin as an irrigation and flood control project, it is still in use today. The system's infrastructure deve ...

, in the city's northwest, famous for providing

with water for over two millennia, since around 250 BC.

History

Around 250 BC during the

Warring States period The Warring States period () was an era in ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded with the Qin wars of conquest ...

, Li Bing, a governor of Shu (present Sichuan Province) in the

Qin state Qin () was an ancient Chinese state during the Zhou dynasty. Traditionally dated to 897 BC, it took its origin in a reconquest of western lands previously lost to the Rong; its position at the western edge of Chinese civilization permitted ex ...

with his son directed the construction of Dujiangyan. Li Bing gave up the old ways of dam building, which were simply directed at flood control, employing a new method of channeling and dividing the water of the Min River. He accomplished this by separating the project into two main parts: the headwork and the irrigation system. The whole system has functioned for 2,000 years, preventing floods and providing substantial irrigation and facilitating shipping and wood drifting. It has contributed greatly to the richness of Chengdu Plain with its reputation as "The Land of Abundance". On 12 May 2008, the city was the closest to the

epicenter The epicenter, epicentre () or epicentrum in seismology is the point on the Earth's surface directly above a hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or an underground explosion originates. Surface damage Before the instrumental pe ...

of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake and the city suffered severe damage. Xinjian Primary School, Juyuan Middle School, and Xiang'e Middle School collapsed in the earthquake.Overwhelmed by death, Sichuan disinfects
" ''

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was esta ...

India''.

Climate

Dujiangyan has a

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal osci ...

-influenced humid subtropical climate (

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

''Cwa'') with cool, dry winters and hot, very wet summers.

Administrative divisions

Dujiangyan has 17

towns A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

and two

townships A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...

: *Towns: **Guankou () **Xingfu () **Puyang () **Juyuan () **Chongyi () **Tianma () **Shiyang () **Liujie () **Yutang () **Zhongxing () **Qingchengshan () **Longchi () **Xujia () **Anlong () **Daguan () **Zipingpu () **Cuiyuehu () *Townships: **Xiang'e () **Hongkou ()

Transport

Xuanhua Gate at Guanxian (20180216093639)

China National Highway 317 China National Highway 317 (G317) runs broadly west to east from Chengdu, Sichuan to Gar County, Ngari Prefecture, Tibet. It is 2,028 kilometres in length and forms an important transportation route in Tibet. As of 2017, Highway 317 passes throu ...

* Chengdu–Dujiangyan High-Speed Railway *

Dujiangyan railway station The Dujiangyan railway station () is a railway station of Chengdu–Dujiangyan Intercity Railway. The station located in Guankou, Dujiangyan, Chengdu, Sichuan, China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in ...

Sister cities

* Ōtake, Hiroshima, Japan

Notes

References

External links

Official website of Dujiangyan Government
{{authority control County-level cities in Sichuan Geography of Chengdu