Hongcun's canal network is as interesting as any of the individual buildings — a Ming dynasty hydraulic engineering project that still functions as designed, channeling water from a mountain spring through the village in a precisely calculated sequence. The channels run along every major lane, stone-lined and covered with flat stones at road crossings, with small sluice gates that regulate flow between sections.
Walking the village while paying attention to the water — where it enters, how it flows, what it passes — gives a completely different reading of the place than simply looking at the buildings. The system was designed not just for water supply and fire protection but according to feng shui principles that linked the flow of water with the flow of good fortune. Whether or not you believe the latter, the practical engineering still impresses after five hundred years of continuous operation.