Liangjia Mountain Reservoir

Liangjia Mountain Reservoir

Liangjia Mountain Reservoir is a national AA-level tourist attraction and a national water conservancy scenic area.

Liangjia Mountain is located at the junction of Liangjia Mountain, Tiande, and Lianhua townships in the northwest of Shulan City, bordering Yushu, Jiutai, Jilin, and Dehui cities. It is 2 kilometers from the Shu-Jiu Highway and 40 kilometers from Shulan City. The eastern peak is 382 meters high, and the western peak, Liangjia Terrace, is 353 meters high. The area is surrounded by over a dozen continuous peaks, with cliffs lining up, grotesque rocks towering majestically, creating a spectacular and imposing landscape.

At the southern foot of the mountain lies the picturesque Liangjia Mountain Large Reservoir, with a total capacity of 400 million cubic meters and a normal water surface area of over 20 square kilometers, making it one of the top ten reservoirs in Jilin Province.

Liangjia Mountain boasts beautiful scenery with verdant waters and is associated with many touching legends. It is said that during the Southern Song Dynasty, when the Jin Kingdom frequently invaded the Central Plains, Emperor Song appointed Yue Fei as commander to resist the Jin and defend the nation. On his northward journey to Liangjia Mountain, he stopped here to rest his horse, leaving behind hoof prints and imprints of drying armor on the rocks, which are still clearly visible today. To commemorate the national hero Yue Fei, the place was named "Liangjia Mountain" (Drying Armor Mountain), which over time became known as Liangjia Mountain.

The dam of Liangjia Mountain Reservoir connects "Pig Mountain" and "Horse-Guarding Mountain," with the "Yangyue Pavilion" atop the former and the "Guanshan Temple" atop the latter, reflecting each other from afar. Below Liangjia Terrace lie the unfathomable "Fox Fairy Cave" and "Hadashi Rock." Since 2006, through investment attraction, 190 million yuan has been introduced to develop the religious tourism project of Shengshui Chan Temple at Liangjia Mountain. Upon completion, it is expected to attract a large number of domestic and international tourists.

Liangjia Mountain Reservoir is located in Liangjia Mountain Township along the upper reaches of the Kachha River in Shulan City, Jilin Province. It is a large Type II reservoir primarily for flood control and drainage, combined with functions such as irrigation, fish farming, and tourism. The controlled catchment area above the dam site is 618 square kilometers. As a multi-year regulating reservoir, it has a total capacity of 1.925 billion cubic meters and serves as a key control project in the Kachha River basin, playing a significant role in eliminating flooding disasters in the Kachha River.

The dam of Liangjia Mountain Reservoir is classified as a Grade II project. The reservoir’s key infrastructure consists of the dam, water conveyance tunnel, and spillway. The maximum dam height is 17.3 meters, the maximum discharge capacity of the water conveyance tunnel is 18 cubic meters per second, and the spillway can discharge up to 690 cubic meters per second. The flood control standard is designed for a 100-year flood, with the dam safety standard set at a 10,000-year flood plus a 30% increase. The determined maximum flood level is 201.20 meters, the normal water level is 200.00 meters, and the flood limit level is 199.60 meters. For decades, Liangjia Mountain Reservoir has diligently conducted hydrological and water observations, scientifically managing water regulation to ensure the safety of the project.

The reservoir area is within Shulan City. The terrain is predominantly composed of secondary terraces formed by alluvial and diluvial deposits, with flat and open surfaces. Scattered residual hills or low mountains are isolated within the terraces. The long-term average annual temperature is 3.5 degrees Celsius, with an average annual precipitation of 700 millimeters—about 75% of which falls during the June to September flood season. The long-term average inflow is 122 million cubic meters. The reservoir usually freezes from November to early April each year, and the water quality is classified as Class IV.

Key Infrastructure

The key infrastructure consists of an earth dam, spillway, water conveyance tunnel, and power station. The earth dam is a composite earth-rock structure, 541 meters long, 17.3 meters high, and 6 meters wide. The normal spillway is located on the left end of the dam, with a maximum discharge capacity of 517 cubic meters per second. The emergency spillway, added during reinforcement, is a bank-side self-rupturing spillway situated at the saddle between the right dam abutment and mountain, featuring an inlet dike and a maximum discharge capacity of 690 cubic meters per second. In the event of a flood exceeding a 1,000-year return period, the dike will be breached to release floodwaters and protect the dam. The water conveyance tunnel is located on the left end of the dam. The power station, also added during reinforcement, sits on the left side of the water conveyance tunnel and houses two generating units with a total installed capacity of 250 kilowatts.

The reservoir is designed for a 100-year flood and verified for a 10,000-year flood with a 30% increase. The design total capacity is 192.5 million cubic meters, with a beneficial storage capacity of 40.5 million cubic meters and a regulating capacity of 155 million cubic meters. It provides flood protection for 16,700 hectares, drainage for 13,300 hectares, irrigates 3,953 hectares of farmland, creates 400 hectares of fish farming water surface, and is designed to generate 280,000 kWh of electricity annually.

Reservoir Benefits

The reservoir area has three inflow points. The middle one is the main stream of the Kachha River, 37 kilometers long with a catchment area of 240 square kilometers; the right tributary is the Tiande River, 37 kilometers long with a catchment area of 188 square kilometers; the left is the Shangerdao River, 36.16 kilometers long with a catchment area of 190 square kilometers. After the confluence of these three rivers, the 541-meter-long river-blocking dam between Liangjia and Guanma Mountains forms an artificial lake with a water surface area of 20 square kilometers, hence the saying “one dam intercepts three streams.” Additionally, with the reservoir flanked by Liangjia Mountain to the east and Guanma Mountain to the west, nestled between the two, the vast shimmering waters in front of the dam resemble a radiant pearl embedded between the mountains, earning it the nickname “Two Dragons Playing with a Pearl.” Approximately 65 meters downstream from the outlet of the water conveyance tunnel at the right end of the dam is a three-way canal distributary gate, which marks the starting point of the reservoir's three main irrigation canals. The east-west canals supply irrigation water to Shulan City’s Liangjia Mountain, Lianhua Township, and Fute Town; the central old river channel supplies six towns in the Kachung Irrigation District of Yushu City. Over the past 30 years of operation, the reservoir has essentially secured irrigation water for nearly 4,000 hectares of paddy fields across nine towns. Legend says that Yue Fei once passed by Liangjia Mountain while pursuing the Jin army and rested and dried his armor on a large rock at the mountaintop, leaving behind hoof and armor marks—thus naming it Liangjia Mountain. The massive rock remains today, attracting visitors who climb to the summit to admire the view. In the 1980s, the local government and reservoir management jointly built the “Yangyue Pavilion.” On Guanma Mountain to the west of the dam stands the Guanshan Temple, echoing the “Yangyue Pavilion” on the eastern mountain. Over the years, three temples, including the Mahavira Hall, have been constructed on both mountains, surrounded by numerous continuous peaks, steep cliffs, and towering grotesque rocks. Legends abound around features like Hadashi Rock, Shenxian Cave, and Fox Fairy Cave beneath the peaks. In 2004, Liangjia Mountain Reservoir was designated as a national water conservancy scenic area.

Meteorological and Hydrological Overview

This basin falls within the temperate continental monsoon climate zone of the northern hemisphere, characterized by distinct seasons—dry and windy springs, hot and rainy summers, large diurnal temperature variations in autumn, and long, harsh winters. The long-term average annual rainfall is 750 millimeters, mostly concentrated from June to September. The long-term average annual evaporation is 700 millimeters, the average annual sunshine duration is 2,493 hours, the average annual temperature is 3.6 degrees Celsius, the average wind speed is 3.7 meters per second, the historical extreme maximum temperature is 36.6 degrees Celsius, and the lowest recorded temperature is -42.6 degrees Celsius.

Hydrological data for Liangjia Mountain Reservoir from 1951 to 1968 comes from hydrological station observations, while data from 1969 to 2002 is derived from reservoir station restored series.

Reservoir Scenery

Liangjia Mountain Reservoir is one of the eight major reservoirs in Jilin Province and a renowned tourist destination, named after the Song Dynasty national hero Yue Fei’s act of “drying his armor” here. The reservoir area offers picturesque and graceful landscapes. From afar, the water and sky merge into one boundless expanse; below the dam, lotus flowers bloom vibrantly in ponds; atop the mountain, incense wafts from Buddhist halls accompanied by the rhythmic sound of wooden fish.

The reservoir is home to unique species of wild freshwater fish and mountain vegetables, along with a rich rural charm reminiscent of idyllic countryside scenes with small bridges and flowing streams—making it an ideal destination for travel and vacation. The scenic area features distinctive cultural landscapes and temples. In recent years, leveraging its abundant natural resources, the area has developed comprehensive facilities such as hotels, forest cabins, and fishing ponds, showcasing great potential for further development.

Liangjia Mountain Township: A township under the jurisdiction of Shulan City. Established as a commune in 1958 and reorganized as a township in 1984. Located in the western part of the city, it covers an area of 129 square kilometers with a population of 22,000. The Jiutai-Shulan Highway passes through the area. It borders Liangjia Mountain Reservoir to the east and administers 12 village committees: Xinglonggou, Dongxing, Guanshan, Yangfang, Jitun, Heiyuan, Zhifu, Yongkuan, Jiaoling, Donggu, Liangjia Mountain, and Qiutun. Local enterprises include agricultural machinery repair shops and small coal mines. The main agricultural products are rice, beans, and corn. ... Detailed information on Liangjia Mountain Township++