The Chengdu Panda Marathon celebrated its fifth birthday on March 17 with 30,000 runners from 29 countries taking part.

The marathon is an opportunity to showcase the city's abundant tourism and cultural resources and also its hospitality.

By participating in the event, runners and visitors have the opportunity to appreciate Dujiangyan, which aims to be an international ecological tourism city.

The Dujiangyan Irrigation System, together with nearby Qingcheng Mountain, was listed as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site in 2000. In 2006, Dujiangyan was listed as a World Natural Heritage site as a corridor region of the giant panda habitat.

In 2018, the irrigation system was recognized as World Heritage Irrigation Structure by the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage.

The Dujiangyan Irrigation System fully utilizes nature to benefit people. It is so far the only existing ancient ecological hydraulic engineering project that uses gravity for a water diversion system without a dam.

More than 2,000 years ago, the vast Chengdu Plain lacked water and the soil was dry, so it could not be used for agricultural production.

There was only the Minjiang River originating in the northern mountain range that flows next to the western hill of the plain and finally goes into the Yangtze River.

On rainy summer days, especially after the glacier thawed, the Minjiang River would flood and destroy villages and farmland, while during drought in winter, it would become a small river that could not meet the demand of irrigating crops.

In addition, the watercourse of the Minjiang River changed every year, so it could not be used for irrigation.

The project is the fruit of the wisdom of people in ancient times, and so is Taoism. Qingcheng Mountain is known as the birthplace of Taoism. In the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220), Zhang Ling, the founder of Taoism, established the religion on the mountain. The mountain thus ranks first among China's four famous Taoist mountains.

Trees on the Qingcheng Mountain are evergreen and that is why it is called qing, meaning green; the 36 peaks of the mountain look like city walls and that is why it is called cheng, which refers to city walls.

The mountain scenery is lush, includes small bridges over flowing streams and offers clean air. Visitors can enjoy wood pavilions and feel the mountain's natural temperament.

The Qili Shixiang greenway that integrates agricultural landscapes and wetland park scenery enhances the romantic appeal of Dujiangyan. It is themed on the local poetry culture and stones inscribed with poetry are its landmarks.

The rich poetry culture, together with the local Tianfu culture and farming civilization in the city's irrigated areas, are the "cultural genes" of the greenway.

The city has guided local people to jointly rebuild the countryside greenway extending about 30 kilometers against the backdrop of the modern agricultural landscape.

It is a great venue for local villagers and tourists to ride, hike and take photos, local residents said.

Dujiangyan is also an important habitat for giant pandas. The China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda, which has a base in Dujiangyan, has established scientific research partnerships with 15 zoos from 13 countries, offering an important communication and cooperation platform.

It has provided 32 pandas to join in international cooperation and bred 19 panda cubs overseas. Some giant panda returnees now live in the area.