The Waterwheel Garden, built in 1994, is located in the Binhe Middle Road (Binhe Zhong Lu) in Lanzhou, Gansu Province. The garden covers an area of 1.45 hectares (3.58 acres) and is comprised of two waterwheels, a cofferdam, the recreation area and a house of water mill.
Giant ancient waterwheels, made in the Ming Dynasty, 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 thus many irrigation machines in the city. The waterwheel invented by Duan Xu in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) 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 (32.8 to 65.6 feet). The center of the wheel was placed with an axle and boards, while the brim of the wheel was fixed with many quadrate buckets. These buckets could carry water to a height of 15 to 18 meters (49 to 59 feet) in order to irrigate fields. Until 1952, about 252 waterwheels stood along the river in Lanzhou, and at that time, the city was reputed to be the 'City of Waterwheels'.
Giant ancient waterwheels, made in the Ming Dynasty, 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.
