Chinese archeologists say an underground drainage system built 900 years ago is still in use in Ganzhou, a city east China's Jiangxi Province.

The 12.1-km long Fushou Gou was first built by the Hakkas, which literally means "guest family," in the Northern Song Dynasty(960 - 1127). Experts say the sewer that lies two meters underground meets today's scientific and construction standards.

"It's environment-friendly, because it's a closed circuit system that links every single pond in the city before it finally pours sewage into the Ganjiang River," said Han Zhenfei, an expert with the Ganzhou City Museum.

Han said the system was designed to stop draining when the Ganjiang River swells, and the system itself was capacious enough to store sewage until the river's water level drops. "That's why streets in downtown Ganzhou rarely flood in time of heavy rain, a headache for many large Chinese cities," he added.

He said it was a miracle such a centuries-old project was still functioning well, even in a small city with just 300,000 people.

Ganzhou is the host city of an upcoming gathering of 2,000-odd Hakka people from across the globe. The event, scheduled for Nov. 18-20, is the 19th of its kind for the Hakkas to renew their friendship and find their ancestral root.

Prior to the event, many high schools in the city have included Hakka culture in their curriculum. Officials hope to help the younger generation learn more about the their own folklore because the city in the southern part of Jiangxi Province is densely populated by Hakkas.

The city has also opened a Hakka museum to showcase highlights of the Hakka culture. These include Hakka architecture known as "tulou," or earth buildings that were big and circular like fortresses, Hakka-style woodcarving, chinaware and many cultural heritage pieces -- such as irons, stoves, tobacco pipes and tombstones that had belonged to some distinguished Hakkas and had recorded their migration over the past centuries.

It is estimated there are more than 80 million Hakkas around the world, most of whom are living in the Chinese mainland and Taiwan.

Hakkas are offspring of the Han people living in central China who began to migrate to the southeast in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (265-316).

Most of the Hakka people settled in present-day Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong, and Taiwan. The Hakka, who did not inter-marry, have remained the same in many ways, including their 2,000-year-old traditional language, clothing and architecture

Among the best-known Hakkas in China's history are Sun Yat-sen who led a democratic revolution to topple the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) in the early 20th century, and Zhu De, late Marshal and commander-in-chief of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
 
(Xinhua News Agency November 18, 2004)