Lanzhou Waterwheel Park

Overview
The Waterwheel Park in Lanzhou was built in 1994, is located in the Binhe Middle Road. The garden with an area of 1.45 hectares with two waterwheels, a cofferdam, the recreation area and a house of water mill. It is certainly an exciting experience for the visitors to tour around the Waterwheel Garden, a restoration of the ancient irrigation system. In the garden, tourists can experience crossing the river on a sheepskin raft, which is the most primeval ferrying tool in the northwest region of the Yellow River. A visit to the Waterwheel Garden will provide an insight into the irrigation tools of ancient times.Actually, the Waterwheel Garden is more like a museum than a garden.

History of Waterwheel Park
The history of Waterwheel can date back to the Ming Dynasty. There were used for irrigation of the farming fields along the Yellow River in ancient Lanzhou City. The Lanzhou waterwheel was quite a famous invention of ancient China, and it was named "Heaven Wheel", "Fan Wheel", "Irrigative Wheel" and "Tiger Wheel" at different times of the history. Hence the Waterwheel Garden was built to honor the invention of this ancient irrigation instrument. Lanzhou is the only city through which the Yellow River flows; There are many irrigation machines in the city. The waterwheel invented by Duan Xu in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) which is the oldest one. Duan Xu learnt from the irrigation machines in Yunnan Province and invented a distinctive style with the appearance of chariot wheels and a diameter ranging from 10 to 20 meters. In 1952, there are 252 waterwheels stood along the river in Lanzhou. Lanzhou also known as "the City of Waterwheels".

System of Waterwheel
A typical waterwheel has a diameter of 16.5 meters. During the flooding season, it would sit on the southern bank of the Yellow River trundled by the flowing river. Other times of the year, water stored in the cofferdam in canals would be used to push the waterwheel. The theory of waterwheel is incredibly simple but smart: a number of water baskets are attached around the outer bound of the waterwheel; the water comes in from one side of the waterwheel; once filled with water, gravity together with the added weight of the baskets will turn the wheel and keep it rolling; the basket will empty itself and fill the wooden trough once it has passed the top of the waterwheel; the empty baskets will take more water while the trough will deliver the water for irrigation; and the process continues.

Basic Information
Location: No. 524, Binhe East Road in Lanzhou city
Entrance Fee: 10CNY
Opening Hours: 8:00AM-18:00PM
How to get there:
1) Take city bus No.140, No.26 and No.15 and get off at Waterwheel Park Station;
2) Take taxi