Lingqu Canal

The Lingqu is an ancient Chinese canal in Xing'an County, near Guilin, in the northwestern corner of Guangxi. It links the Xiang River, which flows north into the Yangtze, with the Li River, which flows south into the Gui River and the Xijiang, a major tributary of the Pearl River, and so forms part of a historical waterway between the Yangtze and the Pearl River Delta. It is described as the first canal in the world to connect two river valleys, and it let boats travel about 2,000 kilometers overland between Northern China and the Pearl River Delta. The canal is 36.4 kilometers long and is counted among the best preserved projects of its kind. Qin Shi Huang, the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty, ordered it built in 214 BC so that Qin forces could campaign against the Baiyue tribes in the south, and its architect was Shi Lu. It is the oldest contour canal in the world and takes its water from the Xiang, diverting up to a third of that river's flow to the Li. By 825 AD it had thirty-seven flash locks, and pound locks are clearly described in the twelfth century. It is on the UNESCO World Heritage tentative list.