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Mount Qingcheng and the Dujiangyan Irrigation System

Construction of the Dujiangyan irrigation system began in the 3rd century B.C. This system still controls the waters of the Minjiang River and distributes it to the fertile farmland of the Chengdu plains. Mount Qingcheng was the birthplace of Taoism, which is celebrated in a series of ancient temples.

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Mount Qingcheng and the Dujiang Irrigation System are two separate sites located in the Sichuan province of southwest China. Mount Qingcheng is the intellectual and spiritual centre of Taoism, while the Dujiangyan Irrigation System is an ancient water management system that has survived up to the present day.

As early as the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE), Mount Qingcheng was recognized as one of the eighteen sacred mountains and rivers used for sacrificial purposes. The eleven Qingcheng Taoist temples can be compared to the Ancient Building Complex in the Wudang Mountains, but the former have a simpler style using the traditional architecture of western Sichuan and are considerably older.

The origins of the Dujiangyan Irrigation System date back to 256 BC, when the provincial governor Li Bing set up an irrigation scheme to the counter the devastating flooding caused by the Min River. His system makes subtle use of the local topography. It splits the Min into an inner flow for irrigation and an outer channel for flood control. The original system has been preserved, but modern building materials and technology have been utilized to enable this ancient system to conform with the requirements of the present day. 

http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/mountqincheng.html