A Chinese hydraulics expert has discovered the country's only existing ancient water resources government building in Dujiangyan city of southwest China's Sichuan Province.
The official building, with a history of nearly 270 years, consists of two tile-roofed wooden houses lying in an alley of the city's downtown area. They became the residences of local people following the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.
The government of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) set up a water resources office in these houses in 1734 to oversee the Dujiang Dam, an ancient but still operating water conservation system.
Wu Minliang, a 77-year-old hydraulics expert, immersed himself in studying the 2,256-year-old Dujiang Dam for years, and spent 40 years looking for the official government building. He recently confirmed that these two houses are those buildings.
Wu has already suggested the government take measures to renovate and protect these precious cultural relics.
Dujiang Dam, 40 kilometers northwest of Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, is the world's oldest water conservation project. It was built on the upper reaches of the Minjiang River in 256 BC during the Warring States Period (475 BC-221 BC) in ancient China.
The dam site, along with nearby Qingcheng Mountain, was included on the World Heritage List of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 2000.
(Xinhua News Agency May 11, 2003)
