水——生命的本质，当它流经地球时，也流经我们，黄河就是最好的见证。明代官员段续看到了水的强大，因此他发明黄河水车，利用黄河水灌溉农田，从此兰州瓜果丰收。但黄河水车在上世纪50年代被撤除殆尽，直到段续的20代后人段怡村重拾这项古老的技艺，74岁的他发现水车市场混乱竞争。他对徒弟们寄予希望，期待古老的工艺得以在后代延续。

Water. The essence of life. It flows through us, as it flows through Earth itself. The Yellow River, the second longest river in Asia, can attest to this.

Duan Xu, a scholar of the Ming dynasty saw the importance of water—the powerful element. By inventing the Lanzhou Waterwheel, Duan Xu channeled the power of the Yellow River to irrigate local crops. This brought prosper to the dry lands of Lanzhou.

The art of making the Lanzhou Waterwheel was all but lost in the 21^st century, until Duan Xu’s 20^th descendent Duan Yicun took it upon himself to study and learn the craft. Now 74 years old, Duan Yicun finds the waterwheel market chaotic and competitive.

Looking to his apprentice and future generations to inherit the craft of waterwheel making, he is hopeful the tradition will continue and the quality standards of the Lanzhou Waterwheel will be upheld.

Duan Yicun looks to the future, as the Yellow River has yet another role to play in the community of Lanzhou and China abroad.