Houtao Bada Qu (eight major canals in
Houtao), located in the current Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, are eight
canals that diverted water from the Yellow
River to the Wujia River. (Qu means
canal.) The canals were dug during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), mostly by
private organizations.
The eight canals are (from west to east):
Yongji Qu (or Chanjin Qu), Gangmu Qu (or Gangji Qu), Fengji Qu, Shahe Qu (or
Yonghe Qu), Yihe Qu, Tongji Qu (or Laogou Qu), Changji Qu (or Changsheng Qu) and
Tabu Qu (or Tabu He).
During the tens of years after completion,
the canals could not divert much water for irrigation in the area as the private
organizations failed to keep the canals in good shape. But in 1903, the
government of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) bought all the canals and all the
lands along the canals and revamped all the canals. As a result, more land along
the canals could be irrigated.