Commemorative Monument of the Project Diverting Luanhe River Water to Tianjin

Commemorative Monument of the Project Diverting Luanhe River Water to Tianjin

The Commemorative Monument of the Project Diverting Luanhe River Water to Tianjin is a cultural relic protection unit of Tianjin Municipality.

The Commemorative Monument of the Project Diverting Luanhe River Water to Tianjin is located at the starting point of the Haihe River, where the Ziya River, the South Canal, and the Haihe River converge at the Sanchahe Riverbank.

On the 18-meter-high marble triangular base of the monument stands a white jade-carved image of a woman. The woman has a kind expression, cradling an infant in her arms, with her left hand palm extended upward as if supporting the sky. She faces the Haihe River, gazing at the water surface, seemingly deep in thought about the river’s past and present.

On the two sides of the granite stone facing the Ziya River and the South Canal, the nine large characters “Commemorative Monument of the Project Diverting Luanhe River Water to Tianjin,” personally inscribed by Deng Xiaoping on August 20, 1986, are engraved.

Behind the monument, on a semi-circular concrete wall about ten steps away from the base, there is an inscription that records the care of the Party Central Committee and the State Council for the people of Tianjin, as well as the great achievements of the builders of the Luanhe-to-Tianjin Diversion Project.

For hundreds of years, due to seawater backflow polluting the Haihe River, the people of Tianjin had been drinking brackish water. With the increasing industrial water demand, the city also faced a shortage of water sources. Therefore, the Party Central Committee, the State Council, and the Central Military Commission made the decision to divert water from the Luanhe River to Tianjin.

The Luanhe River originates from Inner Mongolia and northern Hebei. The upstream water source is of good quality, with abundant and stable flow. Within the territory of Qianxi County in Hebei Province, there are the Panjiakou Reservoir and the Daheiting Reservoir on the Luanhe River, which can ensure the current water supply needs of Tianjin even in dry years.

After the central government decided to divert Luanhe River water, it received strong support from local governments, farmers, and people across the country along the diversion route. Under the organization and implementation of the Luanhe Diversion Project Command headed by the then Mayor of Tianjin, a construction force composed of hundreds of thousands of workers, farmers, soldiers, and technical personnel officially started work on May 11, 1982, to build the Luanhe-to-Tianjin Diversion Project.

The Luanhe-to-Tianjin Diversion Project spans a total length of 234 kilometers. It includes 215 structures such as tunnels, pumping stations, reservoirs, water treatment plants, culverts, open channels, pipelines, inverted siphons, bridge sluices, and power stations. This massive project was completed victoriously in just one year and four months, and officially began supplying water to Tianjin on September 11, 1983.

To commemorate the builders of the Luanhe-to-Tianjin Diversion Project, this commemorative monument was erected on the riverbank at the Sanchahe area.

Further Reading:

· Fourth Batch of Cultural Relic Protection Units of Tianjin Municipality