Yang Gui

During his tenure he designed and oversaw the construction of the Red Flag Canal from 1960 to 1969, a major irrigation project considered by Premier Zhou Enlai as one of the two "miracles" of the People's Republic of China.

[4] Lin's achievement was endorsed by the senior committees, thus Yang was invited to have a speech at a national forum for discussion about production in mountainous areas, in November 1957, Beijing.

[5] When Lin County was hit by a severe drought in the summer of 1957, Yang organized the digging of 7,000 wells and water cellars.

[1][5] In the face of severe difficulties, Yang and the county party committee decided to bring water from the Zhang River across the Taihang Mountains.

[1] The project proceeded under very difficult conditions, as China was in the throes of the famine of the Great Leap Forward, and resources and technical skills were severely lacking.

[6] Workers dammed three rivers,[6] flattened 1,250 hills, and moved 18,180,000 cubic metres (642,000,000 cu ft) of earth and stone.

[2][4] After its completion, the Red Flag Canal became a showcase project of China, attracting nearly 10,000 visitors from all over the country on a daily basis.

[4] Yang retired in June 1995, but was hired by the Shanxi Provincial Government as an advisor to the Yellow River diversion project in 1996.