The Red Flag Canal
(红旗渠）
On the sheer precipices and overhanging rocks at the east foot of the Taihang Mountains in Linzhou City,there is a man-made river, which winds 1,500km,called the Red Flag Canal.The construction of the canal started in 1960 and completed in 1969.The headwork of the canal starts from Houbiduan,Pingshun County,Shanxi Province and gets the water of Zhanghe River to Linxian Country through the irrigation ditch dug along the mountain.The general trunk is 70km long with a water-channeling capacity of 20cubic meters per second,which can irrigate 36,000 ha of field.The Red Flag Canal is divided into three trunk canals in the watershed.This is a huge project on which over 40 million workers toiled for almost 10 years.The Linxian people totally leveled off 50precipices,dug open 624 cliffs,strode acro 274 ditches and rivers,and built many tunnels,aqueducts and culverts.
After its completion the Red Flag Canal solved the problem of water shortage for the Lincxian County and became a tourist attraction in the Linlv Mountain.Reputed by the visitors as the Man-made Milky Way and the Contemporary Great Wall,it has attracted some 40,000 people from 130 countries and regions.However what benefits the Linxian people most is the spirit developed in the course of the construction of the canal.The spirit can be summarized as self-reliance,teamwork and hard struggle.Because of this sprit the Red Flag Canal has been listed by the state as one of the bases for patriotic education to young people.The main scenic spots of the Red Flag Canal include the General Trunk Canal,Bifurcation Gate（分水苑）and the Youth Cave.
The Bifurcation Gate or watershed is the place where the general trunk of the Red Flag Canal is divided into three sub-trunks.What we first see is a gateway in which a large relief picture depicts Red Flag Canal,The relief is 22.1 meters long and 35 meters high with the statues of some 80people.To the right of the relief is a group of six fresco pictures portraying the major parts of the project including the Youth Cave,the Confluence of Trunk No.1 of the Red Flag Canal and Heroes Canal and so on.The Nangudong Reservoir is a lake formed behind Nangudong Dam with a capacity of 55 million cubic meters of flood at full storage.
On the top of the sluice gate is the Memorial Tablet inscribed with the words “The Red Flag Canal” written by Guo Moruo.Behind the tablet is the Memorial Pavilion of the Red Flag Canal ,on the board of which are the word “The Red Flag Canal” written by Zhao Puchu.Inside the pavilion there are many inscriptions written by the Party and state leaders praising the Red Flag Canal Spirit,some pictures of the canal and tools used by the workers to dig the canal..
The Youth Cave,one of the key parts of the general trunk canal,is 30km away from the bifurcation gate on a steep cliff of the Taihang Mountains.The cave is 616 meters long,5 meters high and 6.2 meters wide.this part of the mountain is dangerously steep.It took 300 young people 17 months to dig open the cliff.Life then was very hard and workers could hardly have enough to feed themselves.In order to honor these young people the cave after them.On the cave are three words of “The Youth Cave” in bold and vigorous strokes written by Guo Moruo.
Since its completion the Red Flag Canal has won acclaim from home and abroad.In the early 1970s the late Premier Zhou Enlai told the foreign friends with pride that Chinese people create two miracles after the founding of people’s Republic of China.One is the Yangtze River Bridge of Nanjing,the other is the Red Flag Canal.After inspecting the canal in 1996 President Jiang Zemin was deeply moved and sang the praises of the constructions of the canal.He called on the people to carry forward the Red Flag Canal Sprit and wrote down the words “Keep up the practice of self-reliance and hard struggle”,which had been inscribed on the cliff of the Taihang Mountains so that people will remember the spirit and pa it on to the future generations.
