Dujiangyan City

Dujiangyan 都江堰市
County-level city
Dujiangyan Irrigation System
Dujiangyan Location in Sichuan
Coordinates: 31°00′04″N 103°37′05″E / 31.001°N 103.618°E / 31.001; 103.618Coordinates: 31°00′04″N 103°37′05″E / 31.001°N 103.618°E / 31.001; 103.618
Country	People's Republic of China
Province	Sichuan
Sub-provincial city	Chengdu
Municipal seat	Guankou (灌口街道)
Area
• Total	1,208 km2 (466 sq mi)
Population (2010)
• Total	657,996
• Density	545/km2 (1,410/sq mi)
Time zone	China Standard (UTC+8)
Postal code	6118XX
Chengdu district map	Subdivisions of Chengdu, Sichuan 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Core districts 1 Jinjiang 2 Qingyang 3 Jinniu 4 Wuhou 5 Chenghua Suburbs 6 Longquanyi 7 Qingbaijiang 8 Xindu 9 Wenjiang 11 Shuangliu 12 Pidu Satellite cities 16 Dujiangyan 17 Pengzhou 18 Qionglai 19 Chongzhou Rural 10 Jintang Co. 13 Dayi Co. 14 Pujiang Co. 15 Xinjin Co.
Website	www.djy.gov.cn

Dujiangyan (Chinese: 都江堰; pinyin: Dūjiāngyàn) is a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, People's Republic of China, bordered by the Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture to the north and west. It has an area of 1,208 km² (466 sq mi) and a population of 600,000 in 2003.

Dujiangyan was formerly a county named Guanxian (灌县; Guan County), in Chinese literally "irrigation" (guan) county (xian). The county became a county-level city in 1988, and was renamed after the Dujiangyan Irrigation System, which is located in the northwestern area of the city, famous for still providing neighboring major city Chengdu with water even though it was built around 250 BC.

Around 250 BC during the Warring States period, Li Bing, a governor of Shu (present Sichuan Province) in the Qin state with his son directed the construction of Dujiangyan. Li Bing gave up the old way of dam building, which was simply trying to catch the floodwaters. Instead he employed a new method by channeling and dividing the water to harness the Min River. He accomplished this by separating the project into two main parts: the headwork and the irrigation system. The project effectively put flood waters under control. For over two thousand years the whole system has functioned perfectly, serving not only for flood prevention but also as an immense source for irrigation and a means to facilitate 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 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; Beijie Primary School did not collapse.