ZHANG Feiyun, a young manager at a construc-tion firm in Beijing, had long planned to visit Southwest China's Sichuan Province.

　　"As an irrigation science major in college, I was told many years ago by my primary school history book about the greatness of Dujiangyan, the world's oldest irrigation project. As a self-proclaimed gourmet, I like Sichuan cuisine, which is one of China's four schools of cuisine," the 38-year-old said.

　　Zhang's dream didn't come true until late last month when he was on a business trip to Chengdu, capital of Sichuan. "I felt fully satisfied both as a student of irrigation and a gourmet during my one-day stay in Dujiangyan City," he said.

　　Fifty-five kilometres from downtown Chengdu, Dujiangyan City is best known for possessing the world's oldest functioning hydro-power project.

　　Flood prone

　　In ancient times, the Chengdu Plain, now one of China's most populous and important agricultural regions, used to suffer from the regular flooding of the Minjiang River, a tributary of the Yangtze River, in the summer, while it was stricken with drought in the winter.

　　The Sichuan Governor at that time, Li Bing, decided to harness the Minjiang River and launched the construction of the Dujiangyan Irrigation Project in about 256 BC.

　　He divided the river into two by building a midstream weir; from there, at Fish Mouth, the Minjiang splits into the Outer River, which runs in its old bed, and the Inner River, which Li Bing diverted to a new course to the east. The Inner River was in turn divided at Lidui Hill, a man-made embankment, where the right-hand (west) stream linked with the Outer River through the Flying Sands Spillway, and the left-hand stream squeezes through the Precious Bottleneck Channel to feed a grid of irrigation canals now watering 670,000 hectares of the Chengdu Plain.

　　The whole system made it possible for the water intake at the Precious Bottleneck Channel to be controlled. As an aid to gauging high and low water levels, stone figures were placed at three different places as markers, and iron bars were buried in the riverbed above the Precious Bottleneck Channel as an indication of the depth to which it should be dredged.

　　"Dig the beds deep; keep the dikes low", Li Bing warned. This principle has been observed ever since and the spillway and channels kept in goodsgroupsto this day.

　　Thanks to the project, the plain has been more or less spared from the twin menace of flood and drought for more than 2,000 years, winning the name the "land of abundance" in ancient times.

　　Located in Dujiangyan, a city under the jurisdiction of Chengdu, the project, which works without a dam, is hailed as one of the world's most impressive hydraulic engineering projects. Included on the World Cultural Heritage List in 2002, it is a must for tourists heading for Chengdu.

　　Time for a beer

　　"For gourmets like me, or for most ordinary tourists who don't quite understand the ancient Chinese wisdom even after they are shown around the project by a competent guide, drinking beer at night on both sides of the Nanqiao Bridge near the Lidui Park, where the project is located, or the Jiuxing Square in downtown Dujiangyan, can be an exciting event at this time of the year," Zhang said.

　　At dusk, Zhang left the Lidui Park after studying the irrigation project for half a day. "I had planned to leave Dujiangyan for Chengdu. But I was quite impressed with the scene of so many people drinking beer in the open air on both sides of the river near the Lidui Park. I changed my mind and decided to join them," he said.

　　Evening beer drinking, which made its debut in Dujiangyan in 1997, has mushroomed since the city succeeded in its application for the inclusion of the Mount Qingcheng-Dujiangyan Irrigation Project in the World Cultural Heritage List in late 2000.

　　To prepare for the application, the city spent more than 200 million yuan (US million) giving itself a major facelift.

　　"Thanks to the improved environment, the rising fame of the city after its successful application for World Cultural Heritage status, and the city's cool temperature, which is at least five degrees Centigrade lower than in Chengdu, the city has attracted countless visitors to come and drink beer at night," said Yang Min, a local guide.

　　At least 5,000 people can drink beer at the same time every evening in Dujiangyan, a tiny city with an urban population of only 200,000. And the seats of the night beer stalls are often occupied, Yang said.

　　Because of the popularity of night beer in the city, all the major summer beer festivals in Sichuan have been held there in recent years. The current beer festival, the third in the city's history, started on June 18 and will last until late September, she said.

　　As each person spends at least 50 yuan (US) on a plate of lobster-like shrimps, a plate of peanuts and a plate of beans and several bottles of beer, the night beer is a major source of income for the beer stall owners and the local tax collectors, said Liu Shihong, assistant mayor of Dujiangyan.

　　"A beer stall owner can sell beer and food worth between 2,000 and 3,000 yuan (US to 362) in a night," he said.

　　Many people from Chengdu, or nearby cities and counties, come a long way to enjoy beer in Dujiangyan at night and contribute to the thriving business. "Most would drink and chat until day breaks. But many other visitors stay for the night in hotels operated by farmers around Mount Qingcheng," Yang said.

　　Tranquil village

　　Sixteen kilometres from Dujiangyan City, Mount Qingcheng, the birthplace of Taoism, has been known since ancient times as the "most tranquil place under heaven."

　　Trekking near the city in summer, visitors find that lush forests of pine, Chinese fir and cypress make up a fascinating deep green world. With the temperature around 20 degrees Centigrade in summer, villages near the mountain are popular with visitors from Chengdu trying to escape the summer heat.

　　To cater to their needs, villagers have opened many home-style hotels.

　　"Any visitor can live there for the entire summer at a very modest price," said Hu Jian, a journalist from Chengdu.

　　Each summer, Hu's mother lives in a village near the mountain for at least two months. "Each month, she pays only 300 yuan (US) for board and lodging, eating with the hotel owner's family. She is very happy because many old people of her age live there and the vegetables are believed to be pollution-free," Hu said.