The Ming Tombs Reservoir or the Shisanling Reservoir (十三陵水库) is a dam in

Changping District Changping District (), formerly Changping County (), is a district situated in the suburbs of north and northwest Beijing. Changping has a population of 2,269,487 as of November 2020, making it the most populous suburban district of Beijing. Hist ...

of northern Beijing, China. Named for the

Ming tombs The Ming tombs are a collection of mausoleums built by the emperors of the Ming dynasty of China. The first Ming emperor's tomb is located near his capital Nanjing. However, the majority of the Ming tombs are located in a cluster near Beijing ...

nearby, it is the lower reservoir of the

Shisanling Pumped Storage Power Station The Shisanling Pumped Storage Power Station (十三陵抽水蓄能电厂) is a pumped-storage power station in Changping District of Beijing, China, near the Thirteen Tombs of the Ming Dynasty from where it got its name Shisanling, which means "th ...

. The earth-fill

embankment dam An embankment dam is a large artificial dam. It is typically created by the placement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil or rock. It has a semi-pervious waterproof natural covering for its surface ...

is high and long. The dam creates a reservoir that can store of water and contains a controlled chute

spillway A spillway is a structure used to provide the controlled release of water downstream from a dam or levee, typically into the riverbed of the dammed river itself. In the United Kingdom, they may be known as overflow channels. Spillways ensure tha ...

History

The Ming Tombs Reservoir was built in only four months by hundreds of thousands of workers who labored around the clock. In 2008, the reservoir was one of the nine temporary venues of the Beijing Olympics. It was used for the Triathlon events at the 2008 Summer Olympics, during which it was known as the Triathlon Venue ().

Cultural relevance

During its construction, the project attracted writers and artists from nearby Beijing. The Ming Tombs Reservoir's development was represented in photography, music, literature and film. French photographer

Henri Cartier-Bresson Henri Cartier-Bresson (; 22 August 1908 – 3 August 2004) was a French artist and Humanist photography, humanist photographer considered a master of candid photography, and an early user of 135 film, 35mm film. He pioneered the genre of street ...

also documented the construction in color photography.

References

Beijing2008.cn Triathlon Venue profile

External links

* Venues of the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic triathlon venues Changping District Defunct sports venues in China Buildings and structures completed in 1958 Reservoirs in China {{Summer-Olympic-venue-stub