Dujiangyan is a city northwest of Chengdu, easily reached by high-speed rail in about 30 minutes. It is best known for the Dujiangyan Irrigation System, a UNESCO World Heritage Site built in 256 BC by the governor Li Bing. The system still functions today, channelling the Min River to irrigate the Chengdu Plain and making it one of the most productive agricultural regions in China — one of the great engineering achievements of antiquity.
The irrigation works are fascinating to visit: a series of channels, levees, and a fish-mouth diversion island that splits the river, all engineered without a single dam wall. The surrounding park is pleasant, connected by a suspension bridge to Erwang Temple on the hillside above, where Li Bing and his son are honoured as deified engineers.
Fifteen kilometres to the south, Qingcheng Mountain is a sacred Daoist mountain with ancient temples scattered through dense forest — also UNESCO listed, and considerably quieter than the irrigation park. It has its own high-speed rail station, making it easy to combine both sites in a day from Chengdu.
Much of the city was rebuilt after the devastating 2008 Sichuan earthquake, so the town centre is modern. Dujiangyan also has its own giant panda base — less crowded than Chengdu's, and one of the few places in China that runs a genuine volunteer programme letting visitors work alongside keepers.