Four more Chinese irrigation projects designated world heritage structures

The Xinghua Duotian Irrigation and Drainage System, located in Xinghua city in the eastern Jiangsu province, waters arid uplands with the likes of dykes, channels and water gates. It remains a contributor to local irrigation, drainage, flood control, drought prevention, ecological agriculture and tourism.

Located in Songyang county in East China's Zhejiang province, the Songgu Irrigation Scheme is an excellent model of ancient irrigation works for small and medium-sized river basins. With a dense network of weirs, dykes, ditches and channels and drawing water from a local stream, the irrigation system was perfected during the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911) and now has an irrigation area of about 11,000 hectares.

The Chongyi Shangbao Terraces cover an area of about 3,400 hectares in the mountainous region of Chongyi county in the eastern Jiangxi province. Built on steep slopes as early as in Song Dynasty (960-1279) and perfected during the Ming and Qing dynasties, the terraces have sound irrigation and ecological systems.