Xing'an Lingqu Canal

Witnessing a great engineering feat, the Xing'an Lingqu Canal. It was the excavation of the Lingqu Canal that connected the Xiang River and the Li River, opening up the waterway between the north and the south, which provided an important guarantee for the Qin Dynasty to unify the Lingnan region. A large amount of grain and supplies were transported to Lingnan via the waterway, ensuring a sufficient supply of materials. In 214 BC, the year the Lingqu Canal was completed and navigable, Qin troops conquered Lingnan and subsequently established the three counties of Guilin, Xiangjun, and Nanhai, officially incorporating Lingnan into the territory of the Qin Dynasty. ​Flying overhead with a drone, one can clearly see that the main project of the Lingqu Canal consists of parts such as the Plowshare, the Big Leveling, the Small Leveling, the South Canal, the North Canal, the Spillway Leveling, the Culvert, the Steep Gate, the Weir Dam, the Qin Dyke, and bridges. Although they were built at different times, they are interconnected and form an indispensable part of the Lingqu Canal. ​Located 3 kilometers southeast of Xing'an County town, the diversion pond on the upper reaches of the Haiyang River dam (also known as Meitan) is called 'Plowshare' because of its sharp front and blunt rear, resembling a plowshare. It is a stone dam with a water-diverting function that connects with the Big and Small Leveling. The dam is built upstream from the junction of the Big and Small Leveling, and the direction of the sharp angle is opposite to the main flow direction of the Haiyang River, splitting the river water into two, one flowing into the Li River through the South Canal, and the other returning to the Xiang River through the North Canal.