The project was funded by the Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation of the Republic of Serbia and the Ministry of Science and Technological Development of the People's Republic of China.

During the four-day stay in Beijing, several working meetings with colleagues from the Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences were organized. The main topics of these meetings were possibilities of further cooperation through the implementation of new scientific projects and the publication of joint scientific papers in international journals. In addition, a particular segment was an introduction to the organization and working methods of the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). Through the professional exhibition, the members of our research team had the opportunity to learn more about the development and activities of this Institute from its establishment in 1940 to the present day.

After Beijing, the visit to China continued with the realization of fieldwork in the Sichuan province, the capital of Chengdu and Dujiangyan. During the fieldwork, our colleagues had the opportunity to visit the Dujiangyan System, which was built about 2000 years ago for irrigation and flood protection. With expert guidance, the researchers were introduced to the construction and functioning of the oldest irrigation system in China, which is still in operation. Due to its importance, the Dujiangyan System, joint with Kincheng Mountain, is included in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List.

On the last day of the stay in Dujiangyan, in nearby Wenchuan, our team visited the location of the strongest recorded earthquake (7.9 MS) in China in the XXI century, which occurred on May 12, 2008. In this catastrophic earthquake, over 87,000 people died, while the economic damage was estimated at around 146 billion USD.

Date: December 30, 2023
Source: Dr. Stefan Denda, , ,

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