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Old drainage system protects Palace Museum from floods

china.org.cn / chinagate.cn by Wu Jin, July 28, 2016 Adjust font size:

The nearly 600-year-old Palace Museum has demonstrated its powerful and ancient drainage system which carried away rainwater in 20 minutes as torrential rains pelted Beijing last week. 

The nearly 600-year-old Palace Museum has demonstrated its powerful and ancient drainage system which carried away rainwater in 20 minutes as torrential rains pelted Beijing last week.

The plumbing in the Palace Museum efficiently diverted the rainwater flow into surrounding rivers, leaving the imperial palace untouched from the heavy downpours that caused havoc in the capital last week.

When raindrops fall from the roofs of buildings, the water was guided into ditches and eventually reaches the open channels lying around the courtyards, said Shan Jixiang, director of the Palace Museum.

The 1,142 stone-made dragon heads installed around the terrains of the three major halls, namely the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Central Harmony and the Hall of Preserved Harmony, are actually the facilities of drainage pipes. Every time it rains, the water flows out from those pipelines.

Shan said the colossal drainage system of the Palace Museum with 15-kilometer-long ditches among which the invisible ones total 13 kilometers is one of the most important examples of the ancient engineering in the world.

All staff members in the Palace Museum will be on duty during rainstorms and keep a close watch on the changing levels of the internal Golden Water River.

The drainage system in the Palace Museum is a precious legacy left by the marvelous technicians and craftsmen in ancient times. The design has made great achievements by taking into consideration the weather, the soil and the people while managing to reduce the peril caused by heavy rains, Shan said.