From people's bane to boon: Mulan River

For thousands of years the city of Putian on the southeast coast of China suffered frequent flooding along the Mulan River. Floods ended with the launch of a successful flood management project.

Local people said that in the past, there were small floods in the lower reaches of the Mulan River every year and one severe flood every decade.

The most serious flood occurred on October 9, 1999, causing the collapse of nearly 60,000 houses and flooding 30,000 hectares of farmland.

President Xi Jinping, then vice secretary of the Fujian Provincial Party Committee and acting governor of Fujian, stressed the urgent need to eliminate the disastrous floods along the Mulan River after an on-the-spot investigation.

The history of floods came to an end after years of efforts to tackle technical problems. Putian is now free from floods, and was put on the list of China's best cities to live and work in 2020.

How has Putian managed to navigate such a challenging course? People's Daily reporter He Jieqiong visited the city in Fujian Province to explore the reasons.

(Produced by Liang Peiyu, He Jieqiong, Huang Jingjing, Zhang Jian and Zhang Xiaoyang; Interns Wu Yimeng and Wang Xiaodong also contributed to this story.)