Irrigation projects get world heritage designation (2)

Tongjiyan Irrigation System in Sichuan province. (YAO YONGLIANG/FOR CHINA DAILY)

The 2,160-year-old Tongjiyan Irrigation System, one of the newly honored projects, is located in Sichuan province. It has a braided-shaped arrangement of canals that helps to increase its flood control capacity.

The project preserves the ecology of the water, which it provides to two cities and four counties and districts in Sichuan, an irrigation area of 34,667 hectares, for the populace and farming.

The Xinghua Duotian Irrigation and Drainage System, in Jiangsu province, stemmed from efforts since the Tang Dynasty (618-907) to prevent flooding and has been in use since then. It is now the world's only irrigation and drainage system located on raised, dry farmland.

The system not only increases local grain production and population capacity in the area, but also creates a unique and pleasant landscape with a variegated folk culture that draws tourists.