PLACE GUIDE

Red Flag Canal 红旗渠

Hongqi Qu

The Red Flag Canal carries water around the Taihang cliffs through channels, tunnels and aqueducts built in the 1960s. Its route makes the engineering challenge immediately visible: a narrow watercourse is held against steep rock rather than following an easy valley floor.

Red Flag Canal at Tigers Mouth Cliff · 红旗渠
Red Flag Canal at Tigers Mouth Cliff · 红旗渠 Photograph date recorded by the source: 2006-04-23. · eregli bob · Eregli bob at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo adjustments

Full frame retained; proportionally resized and converted to WebP. No retouching or changes to the photographed subject. Card displays may crop the view.

Explore the region

Henan · 河南省 →Anyang · 安阳市 →

About Red Flag Canal

The memorial museum explains the construction, while Youth Cave brings the story back to a particular tunnel and mountainside. These two visitor areas complement each other but require a transfer.

The canal was built to bring Zhang River (漳河) water to Lin County (林县), now Linzhou, for irrigation. County records describe drought years totalling four hundred since the Ming dynasty. Residents formerly carried drinking and irrigation water over mountain routes, sometimes covering twenty to thirty li (里) a day. Construction began in February 1960 and was completed in July 1969, with the work carried out by hand.

Including its branches and sub-branches, the canal system extends for about 1,500 kilometres. Tunnels and aqueducts carry water through the mountainous landscape, with many sections running along cliff faces. The scenic area is a national 5A tourist attraction (国家5A级旅游景区), a National Water Conservancy Scenic Area (国家水利风景区) and a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level (国家重点文物保护单位).

What to look for

  • The cliff-side channel and Youth Cave, showing how the route passes through difficult terrain.
  • The Red Flag Canal Memorial Museum, explaining the people, tools and stages of construction.

The surrounding area

Northern provincial base for the Yin Xu archaeological landscape and nearby regional food traditions.

Location & getting there

Getting to Red Flag Canal

Travel north from Linzhou toward the Ren Village area. Specify either the Red Flag Canal Memorial Museum or Youth Cave as the arrival point, and arrange the transfer between them rather than assuming one entrance covers both sites.

General visit reminders

Choose the building, exhibition or part of the historic area you most want to see, then leave time to explore its setting. Check the venue’s current opening and reservation arrangements directly; a place appearing on the map does not mean every building or gallery is accessible on your travel date.

Combine your visit

A suggested sequence linking the specific features of this visit.

  1. Red Flag Canal Memorial Museum

    Read the construction story before examining the engineering outdoors.

  2. Youth Cave and cliff-side canal

    Relate the historical account to a tunnel and channel in the actual mountain setting.

This order is editorial. Confirm access and any transfers between stops; it does not establish a walking route, same-day connection or common admission ticket.

AI illustration: AI illustration: aqueduct water channel; general category detail, not an actual photograph.
AI illustration · AI 示意图（景观类型参考，非实拍） · 架空水渠槽壁与流水 — A general visiting detail, not an exact view of this place.
Historic sites & architecture · 历史古迹／建筑 →

Find Red Flag Canal

红旗渠 · 安阳市

Amap · 高德地图Approximate pin · 近似位置Apple Maps · 苹果地图

The pin marks the area, not the entrance.

More places nearby

Approximate straight-line distances between map pins, not travel distances.

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Sources & visit information

The sources below support the place-specific description and arrival information. Suggested combinations are editorial planning ideas; confirm current opening, entry arrangements and transport services for your date.

Visitor information adapted and edited from Wikipedia contributors, “Red Flag Canal” · CC BY-SA 4.0. Source revision 1237766614.

Visitor information adapted and edited from Wikivoyage contributors, listing “Red-flag Canal” · CC BY-SA 4.0.

Background paragraphs translated and condensed from Wikipedia contributors, "红旗渠", Chinese Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0. Source revision 94272845.

Background paragraphs condensed from Wikipedia contributors, "Red Flag Canal", English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0. Source revision 1237766614.

China Revealed · Editorially updated 2026-10-07