Dujiangyan
Located 50km (31 miles) from Chengdu, Dujiangyan is not only a cultural city with a long history, but also a famous place of interest. Dujiangyan Dam that gives the city its name is an irrigation system built more than 2,200 years ago. Nearby Qingcheng Mountain is the birthplace of Taoism. With dozens of temples and pavilions built since the year AD143, it is a storehouse of ancient scripts and cultural relics. The region around the Dujiangyan irrigation system and Qingcheng Mountain was recognized by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage site in 2000, and a World Natural Heritage site six years later for it is part of panda habitat. Dujiangyan suffered severe damage in the May 12 earthquake, 2008. Only four days after the earthquake, the people of Dujiangyan began planning reconstruction work and future development. The foreign dignitaries who visited Dujiangyan included US Vice President Joe Biden, the Prime Minister of Tanzania Mizengo Pinda and many foreign ambassadors to China.
