The mountains will remember me - Inheriting the spirit of the Red Flag Canal engineering marvel

As visitors from far and wide flock to witness the marvels of the Red Flag Canal in Linzhou, Anyang, central China's Henan Province, they are reminded of the extraordinary achievements that can be accomplished through unity and perseverance.

With bare hands, local villagers carved out a 1,500-kilometer canal along the steep crags of Taihang Mountain in the 1960s. Within a decade, they brought precious water from the Zhanghe River in bordering Shanxi Province to Anyang's then drought-stricken area, Linxian county, now known as Linzhou.

Drone photo taken on March 28, 2024 shows the Red Flag Canal in Linzhou, Anyang, central China's Henan Province. (People's Daily Online/Liu Ning)

After the canal was completed, it provided drinking water to 600,000 people and 37,000 heads of livestock, and irrigated 36,000 hectares of arable land.

People in Linzhou overcame numerous challenges to make the impossible possible, forging the spirit of the Red Flag Canal, which emphasizes self-reliance, hard work, solidarity and cooperation, and selfless dedication.

Photo taken on March 28, 2024 shows students visiting Red Flag Canal in Linzhou, Anyang, central China's Henan Province. (People's Daily Online/Zhang Kaiwei)

76-year-old Zhang Maijiang was the youngest among the 300,000 people mobilized for the waterway's construction, "We had to complete the construction no matter how tough it was, so that our descendants would no longer suffer from water shortages," he said.

The Red Flag Canal stands as a shining beacon of hope, inspiring people to overcome adversity and forge a path towards a brighter tomorrow.