The Ling Canal(Chin.: 灵渠, Pinyin: Língqú) , situated at north of Xing' an, is 58 kilometers far from Guilin, was built in 214 B.C. during the Emperor Qin (259BC - 210BC, the first emperor who unified China) and is also is called Qin Canal. It is one of the three ancient Chinese Grand irrigaion works and the oldest canal in the world. It is an embodiment of the wisdom of the Chinese people.

The canal was once an important means of transports serving the region before railways and roads were constructed. This canal still serves a purposes by irrigating about 2700 hectare of agricultural land. This canal connects the Xiang River of Hunan Province with the Gui River of Guangxi. The first flows northward toward the Yangtze River and the latter southward toward the China Sea .
It is possible to sail from Guangzhou by traveling up the Xi and Gui Rivers to this canal and passing through it, proceed down the Xiang River to the Yangtze, hence to the Grand Canal and even as far as Peiping without getting off the boat.
In bygone days before railroads and motor highways, this elaborate canal was of great assistance to China 's transport and unity. Construction was started two centuries before Christ and was a the farsighted project of the great Emperor Chin Shi Huang Ti, who built China 's Great Wall.

The canal, about 34 kilometers (21 miles) long, consists of two parts: the northern canal and the southern canal. Connecting the Xiang River and the Li River, the canal is 10 meters (32 feet) in length and 1.5 meters (5 feet) in depth. Each of the five parts of the canal has a specific function. For example, Hua Zui, in the shape of a ploughshare, is a stone dam made of giant stones. Its function is to divide the upper reaches of a sea partly into the northern canal which disembogues itself into the Xiang Rive and partly into the southern canal, which empties into the Li River. Scientifically designed, it still performs its function in terms of irrigation.