Farmer chisels irrigation channel through three mountains

A Chinese farmer has brought water and hope to his remote village after spending 36 years digging a channel with bare hands. Hu Dafa, who learned irrigation from scratch in his middle ages, built the passageway which runs through the side of three mountains, with the help from his neighbours, reported Chinese media.

A Chinese farmer has brought water and hope to his remote village after spending 36 years digging a channel with bare hands.

Hu Dafa, who learned irrigation from scratch in his middle ages, built the passageway which runs through the side of three mountains, with the help from his neighbours, reported Chinese media.

The channel measures around six miles (10 kilometres) long and is situated in south-east China's Guizhou Province.

Determined: Huang Dafa, from China's Caowangba Village, spent more than three decades building an irrigation channel with bare hands

Determined: Huang Dafa, from China's Caowangba Village, spent more than three decades building an irrigation channel with bare hands

Ambitious project: The six-mile-long channel is dug through the side of three mountains and more than 10 mills in rural Guizhou Province

Ambitious project: The six-mile-long channel is dug through the side of three mountains and more than 10 mills in rural Guizhou Province

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Mr Huang, 81, is said to have had to spent countless nights sleeping in caves in order to build the irrigation system.

The irrigation channel, named Dafa Channel by the locals in honour of Huang Dafa, was built between 1958 and 1994. However, Mr Huang's inspiring story story was just revealed by the media this week.

The ambitious project involved around 200 people, who used hand tools and explosives to dig the 15-inch-wide and 20-inch-tall passage, according to People's Daily Online, in a report citing China Daily.

Situated on an altitude of 4,101 feet in the mountainous of remote Guizhou Province, Caowangba Village has no water sources.

Never give up: Mr Huang, now 81, learned irrigation from scratch in his middle ages

Never give up: Mr Huang, now 81, learned irrigation from scratch in his middle ages

In the past, the only way for the village's 1,200 residents to obtain water was by saving rainwater using a well or walking for two hours to the next village Yebiao.

In order to fetch drinking water from the village's only well, villages had to queue all day long.

Some would also climb to the top of peaks to collect water, then tie themselves to trees and rappel down the cliffs. 

'Drinking water was short,' as one villager, surnamed Xu, recalled to a China Daily reporter. 

'Forget irrigation. We had a 3,552-square-foot rice paddy that was parched to the point you could put your foot in the cracks in the dry season. 

'It was a serious problem.'

So when Huang Dafa was elected as the head of the Caowangba Village in 1958, he decided to, quite literally, take matters into his own hands. 

Mr Huang decided to pick up the shovel and build an irrigation channel from nothing. In front of him lie three mountains and more than 10 hills, but that didn't stop the determined farmer. 

In order to persuade other villagers to join him, Mr Huang was always the first person to do the most dangerous tasks, such as leaping near the top of a 980-foot-tall cliff, despite his fear of heights.

He told a reporter: 'If I didn't, nobody else dared.' 

Eventually, Mr Huang managed to find some young men in the village and together they bored a 330-foot-long channel through one peak.

Sadly, the water didn't flow - because none of them actually knew anything about irrigation.

Team work: He persuaded his neighbours to work alongside him in order to obtain fresh water for his remote village

Team work: He persuaded his neighbours to work alongside him in order to obtain fresh water for his remote village

The passageway became defunct as an irrigation channel in the 1970s, but it helped with the locals in another way. 

Villagers started to use it as a shortcut when they went out. Instead of walking over the mountain, they walked through it. 

In 1976, Mr Huang got to know Huang Zhuwen, an official from the Zunyi Hydro-power Bureau, who encouraged 'small but energetic' Huang to carry on with his dream.

In 1989 at the age of 54, Mr Huang studied water-system engineering in the Fengxiang Water Conservation Bureau in Zunyi city.

A year later, Caowangba was hit by a major drought after having had no rain for more than 100 days. Mr Huang, equipped with his irrigation knowledge, decided to re-start digging his channel.

He managed to persuade the county authorities to supply the project with 60,000 yuan (£6,800) and 190,000 kilograms (420,000 pounds) of corn. 

Mission accomplished: The locals used to walk two hours to another village to get water, but thanks to Mr Huang's dedication, the water now flows to their doors 

Mission accomplished: The locals used to walk two hours to another village to get water, but thanks to Mr Huang's dedication, the water now flows to their doors 

Despite earning as little as 80 yuan (£9) a year, the villagers joined forces and gathered 13,000 yuan (£1,470) to fund the project further.

Mr Huang recalled: 'I was determined to bring water to Caowangba. 

'People have had plenty of food since. Full stomachs mean peace of mind.'

In 1994, Mr Huang and his team finally completed the astonishing irrigation system, which passes through three mountains, more than 10 hills and three other villages. 

The channel was put to use a year later. 

But sometimes, a great achievement comes with great price. Mr Huang's daughter and grandson passed away when he working in the mountains.

The man also had to risk his life climbing to the top of mountains and teetering around the edge of the waterway. He forced himself to battle with his Acrophobia time and time in order to lead the project. 

'We shouldn't wait for things to happen,' said Mr Huang. 'Dozens of years of my life could have passed without anything happening.' 

The man also said if they could do something to improve their lives, they always should.

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