The administrative bureau of the central route of China's South-to-North Water Diversion Project, the biggest one in the world, offered an opportunity for the public to visit its water-transferring facilities, and get a real look at how the project benefits the life of the local people from Dec. 14 to 15. People visit facilitates at the Taocha Canal Headworks in Xichuan County, Henan Province during the open day held by the administrative bureau of the central route of China's South-to-North Water Diversion Project. [Photo by Cheng Gong/China.org.cn] The public visited facilities including the Taocha Canal Headworks — the starting point of the central route and the Taocha Water Quality Automotive Monitoring Station. Since the first phase of the central route was put into operation on Dec. 12, 2014, it has delivered a combined 11.4 billion cubic meters of water to 18 cities including Beijing, Tianjin, Shijiazhuang and Zhengzhou in the north, benefiting more than 53 million residents. To tackle the impact of the middle diversion route, Hubei Province has constructed a canal to transfer water from the Yangtze to the lower section of the Hanjiang and Xinglong dam to ensure irrigation, shipping and water supplies to cities. The middle route is most attention-grabbing of the three due to its role of bringing water to the Chinese capital, and it started supplying water on Dec. 12, 2014. It begins at the Danjiangkou Reservoir in central China's Hubei Province and runs across Henan and Hebei provinces before reaching Beijing and Tianjin. The water diversion project has increased water supply for cities along the route and helped improved water quality as well. The project was conceived by late Chinese leader Mao Zedong in 1952. The State Council approved the project in December 2002 after nearly half a century of debate. (China.org.cn 21.12.2017 By He Shan)