Zigong

Zigong (zh-stpw | s=自贡 | t=自貢 | p=Zìgòng | w=Tzu-kung), ancient name Ziliujing and Gongjing, is a prefecture-level city and the third largest city in Sichuan Province, in southwest China. Zigong is located in the Sichuan Basin. Granted the recognition as one of the "Historical and Cultural Cities of China" by the State Council of the People's Republic. Zigong has long been renowned as "Salt City" for its brine extraction techniques and the attendant salt-related culture. In ancient China, Salt was regarded as the energy for body and valued higher even than Gold. Therefore, salt trading was always the most profitable business and salt merchants were the wealthiest people. Hence, Zigong had always been one of the richest cities in China until the founding of Peoples' Republic of China with the introduction of new salt producing methods and advancing of technologies.

It has had the Zigong Salt Museum since 1736. The Zigong area's population is approximately 3.2 million (which covers five major districts and rural areas). The Fuxi River, a tributary to the Yangtze River, snakes through the city's core. The area is very humid and the visibility can be reduced dramatically in the area due to ground fog. The humidity and fog of Zigong can be attributed to that it sits on what was once a vast inland sea. Changes in the environment caused the water levels to subside leaving salt, brine, and natural gas.

During the summer months the temperatures can reach to 40°C (104°F) during the winter months the temperatures hover around 15.5°C (60°F). The humidity hovers between 80% and 90% year round.

Using the coordinates link, one can find ariel photographic views, satellite imagery, night views, and road maps:Coordinates: (coord|29|20|6.60|N|104|46|25.39|E|type:landmark)

Zigong is situated south of the Sichuan basin hill country. To the East of Zigong is Luzhou and to the west of Zigong is Leshan. To Zigong's south is Yibin and to the north-east is the city of Neijiang.

History, Districts, and Counties

Although the region has rich history into antiquity, the prefecture-level city called "Zigong" is a modern name. In 1939, two older cities were combined to make Zigong - Ziliujing (some have romanized this name as "Tzeliutsing") and Gongjing to be named Zigong. The Zigong name is a combination of both older cities names.

Today there are four municipal districts and two counties of the Zigong Prefecture:
*Ziliujing District (自流井区) (meaning "Artesian well")
*Gongjing District (贡井区) (meaning "Tribute Well")
*Da'an District (大安区)
*Yantan District (沿滩区) (meaning "along the river")The two rural counties of Zigong are:
*Fushun County (Fushunxian) (富顺县)
*Rong County (Rongxian)(荣县)

Both previous cities - Gongjing and Ziliujing made up what had become one of the busiest saltworks (or saltyards as they are called locally) in China - the Furong Saltyard. The main products were a uniquely rich salt called "hua" salt - which dominated salt from the other Sichuan producers and the "ba" salt which became popular in other provinces in China.

The area of Zigong has a long history in ancient China - with the invention and development of "Percussion Drilling" being one of the city's accomplishments. There are essentially two cities - that of the old and the new. The city was reached by rail in the 1950s. Several four lane highways reach the city from other cities in the Sichuan province. The new city of Zigong has been modernizing since the late 1970s - but more rapidly since the early 1990s. The old "Salt" city is based on industry and farmland and a new "Tourism" city which caters primarily to Chinese tourists (as Zigong is better known within mainland China). Zigong is host to the Sichuan University of Science and Engineering as well as a new High Technology Zone.

Zigong Dinosaur Museum

In the 1980s, vast dinosaur fossils were excavated in the Dashanpu Formation, 7 km north-east from downtown Zigong, including a dinosaur named after the township, "Dashanpusaurus". Because of the unique and intact bone remains, Zigong has ever since been attracting paleontologists and dinosaur enthusiasts from around the world. In 1987, the Zigong Dinosaur Museum ( _zh. 自貢恐龍博物館) was established, becoming the first specialized dinosaur museum open in Asia. Mounted specimens include "Omeisaurus", "Gigantspinosaurus", "Yangchuanosaurus hepingensis", "Huayangosaurus" and "Xiaosaurus".

Lantern Festival

Zigong is the originator of the Chinese Lantern Festival - which has been copied in Beijing, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. As one of the Historical and Cultural Cities of China, Zigong is called "Lantern Town in the South Kingdom". In recent years, although the annual lantern show forces the local residents endure unpredictable and extended blackouts during China's Spring Festival, the lantern festival is a boon for tourism in the remote but tranquil city and generates large revenues for the local government. The pattern of Lantern Show, a paradigm of China's festival economy, has been copied throughout China, which dilutes the uniqueness of Zigong's original version. As a measure to promote the city, the lantern show has already been brought to many cities in mainland China and even southeast Asia throughout of the years.

Since China is on a Lunar calendar - known in the west as the Chinese calendar, Spring Festival - which is also known as Chinese New Year will vary each year on a Gregorian calendar - but is roughly between January 16 and February 19 each year - depending on which of the Twelve earthly branches it is currently.

The Latern Festival has been going on since the Tang dynasty and gets more elaborate each year and is certainly a sight to behold.

alt and Natural Gas Industry

Salt was once one of the major sources of revenue for China. To give an idea of how much money was generated from salt in China - after the fall of the last emperor, the Republic of China under Sun Yat-sen secured loans based upon the revenues of the Chinese Salt Administration (the government agency in charge of taxation on salt). The chief inspector of that administration stated "The best salt in China is produced from the salt wells of Sichuan". The best salt wells in Sichuan are in Zigong.

The people of Zigong have been drilling in the area for Salt since before the Han Dynasty (76-88 A.D.) to extract salt from brine. Some historian estimates are that China has been active in producing salt since about 6,000 BC. The brine aquifers in the area have salinity of at least 50 grams per liter. The classical method of drilling and production was the following: a drilling rig is erected and a borehole is drilled using a drilling bit and rope. Brine is extracted by dropping a long tube down the borehole. A membrane valve then captures the brine for retrieval on the surface. Once the brine is retrieved it's then piped to flat pans for boiling. In the boiling process some water and crushed yellow soybean is added. The soybean absorbs the impurities in the salt. Once boiled, a yellow layer is formed - this is scrapped off leaving absolutely pure salt. The salt is a medium grain salt with different size flakes which have a very strong and unique salt taste. This salt has no additives so it does clump. Locals use grains of rice in the salt to keep the salt from clumping.

Early methods of brine salt production involved digging large pits in the earth (other parts of China used the evaporation method). Later methods involved very innovative drilling and retrieval methods. An unexpected byproduct of the drilling and resulting wells was natural gas. Since natural gas didn't have the uses it does today, it was channeled into pipes and primarily used onsite to boil the brine and extract the salt. The salt Zigong produced was very rich in taste and was served to the Emperor of China as a tribute. The people of Zigong believe its taste to be superior to the popular french sea salts such as Fleur de sel.

Salt production via boreholes was once prevalent in the entire Sichuan area - but for several factors (war, rebellion, taxes, wells drying up) Zigong became the center of production. Salt wells in Zigong were deeper and had better brine salinity - making for better yields in the salt extraction process. The method in which boreholes were drilled is significant. In 1835, the world's (at that time) deepest well was drilled reaching 3,300 feet (compared with a much publicised well in Pennsylvania at 69.5 feet). Wealthy families of the Sichuan city of Jingyan invented deep percussion drilling techniques used in Zigong - 400 years before the Europeans. The miners of Zigong refined the techniques of deep borehole drilling. Later, Europeans copied and further refined the percussion drilling methods - so its effects can be seen in the modern Drilling rig used for oil and water.

Salt became an engine of commerce and wealth for Zigong. There were cheaper methods for salt production, as to start a borehole well cost 3,000 pieces of silver, but transportation cost into the Sichuan valley negated the cheaper production methods (as they usually involved sea water). Zigong is located in the central Chinese Sichuan province, which was a large basin, surrounded by mountains on three sides and therefore somewhat isolated. Before refrigeration was available salt was a key chemical used in preserving vegetables, meat, and fish. Because of the factors mentioned above (war, wells drying up, and a rebellion) Zigong became a significant supplier of salt to the Sichuan province up until the 1930s. In 1892, miners discovered a vein of rocksalt that feeds Zigongs aquifers. In 1946, a well was drilled with a rotary drillbit. Ancient percussion drilling methods became obsolete and most of the drilling rigs were torn down due to decay. Today, only one traditional salt well still exists, the Xinhai Well, as a tribute to the workers and industry. The Xinhai Well (Bore depth: 1,001.4 meters/4,400 feet) still operates using the older manual methods of pumping and boiling. The salt is used for pickling or canning - and makes an important ingredient to Sichuan style pickles (which are a local favorite). In the modern day, Zigong is a primary source for Natural Gas, Coal, and Inorganic Chemical Production in addition to salt.

Zigong Teahouse

Now a historic teahouse built by the Sichuan based salt merchants originally served as a guild hall for salt merchants. Originally called the Wang Sanwei Linneage Hall - it's now called the Wangye Miao Teahouse. The Wangye Miao Teahouse was popular during the height of the salt trade and still stands along a bend in the Fuxi River - which runs through the center of Zigong. The structure has classic Chinese architecture still operates today. The teahouse is located next to the river, on Binjiang Lu street. The teahouse is in fact part of the Zigong Salt Museum and is used to generate funds for the museum.However, the original purpose of the Teahouse was the assembly hall for shipping Merchants and called Wangye Miao Temple. For its origin please refer to "Merchants Assembly Halls" below.

The Ancient Streets

Along the Fuxi river are several stone paved roads that are called the "ancient streets". This section of Zigong has traditional houses and shops, typical of life in the days that Zigong was a bustling Salt trade center. Several salt well heads are capped and marked along the streets that wind along the river. At the end of the street is a hand rowed ferry boat that takes a visitor to the opposite shore where stone steps led up into the city.

Tourist Sites

San Duo Zhai (Chinese:三多寨)is a fortress complex built in 1859 by three rich families on the top of steep mountain, to protect themselves from the banditis and warlord during Chaos period. The name of the fortress means long happiness, long live, and more boy birth (多福、多寿、多男子). Located along the Zigong to Neijiang expressway, about 20km drive from the city, hiring a roundtrip taxi would cost about 50RMB.

Rongxian Buddha (Chinese:荣县大佛) is the second largest sitting stone Buddha in the world. Located in Rongxian County, about 40km drive from the city, hiring a roundtrip taxi would cost about 100RMB.

Fushun Confucius Temple 富顺文庙, built in 1044, is the only Confucius temple in the world with a naked Confucius image on the top of the roof.

Xianshi - the ancient Town 仙市古镇, is a small town with over 1400 years history of salt shipping, however, still kept most of its houses and streets in the ancient styles. 10 minutes from the city, along the Fuxi river.

Night view of Fuxi river - you can step on to the touring boat for only 20 rmb with snacks and tea serving, and enjoying the amazing view of ancient "salt river" and imagining the busy ports by the restored sites.

Merchants Assembly Halls

Xiqing assembly hall 西秦会馆 is the most famous and beautiful Meachants Hall in China, located in the old city downtown. Built in 1800, for the purpose of assemble Salt Merchants from Shanxi province.

Wangye Miao Temple 王爷庙, is the assembly hall for shipping Merchants, located in the old city downtown along the Fuxi river, with a estimated history of over 300 hundred years. The purpose is to serve both assembly and protection from the river god. the temple is delicatedly build on a cliff of the Fuxi river with designs being able to detect groundwork condition. The two original unique structure of this temple is road crossing inside the temple and the rare genuine Sichuan Oprea Platform.

Henghou Ci Temple 桓侯祠 is the assembly hall for butchers built in 1875. The construction fund come from the butchers' rule "whenever a pig is killed, tow hundred cents should be donated" .

Local Food and Dishes

Zigong Food is one of a kind even in Sichuan, due to its rich culture and history. Some dishes found in Zigong are common to the Sichuan area (see Szechuan cuisine with local variations, and some are unique local recipes.
* Various types of Dumpling or Wonton (served with hot oil and pepper paste) called chāo shǒu
* Sichuan Hot pot, called Chuan Chuan Xiang
* Twice Cooked Pork
* Pepper Beef
* Mapo doufu
* Diced Rabbit in Hot Pepper Oil
* Frog
* Fried Eel with Hot Peppers
* Turtle Soup
* Duck in a Hot Pepper Oil
* Tea Infused Duck
* Sichuan DanDan Mian - spicyChinese noodles
* Various Types of Tea
* Babe Toufu (best in Fushun county and counryside)

Unique dishes include:
* Fried rice-field frog with fresh pepper (really spicy pepper) [it's illegal but one of the best dishes in China]
* rice-field frog chicken soup [only few family knows how to make this soup, though]

Try the night food market along the roads (Tongxing Lu), and remember best food are cooked at local's home.

Books

*"The Merchants of Zigong - Industrial Entrepreneurship In Early Modern China by Madeleine Zelin" Columbia Press (ISBN 0-231-13596-3)
*"The Great Well of China" by Hans Ulrich Vogel, Scientific American, June 1993
*"Salt: A World History" by Kurlansky, Mark. Penguin, 2003 (ISBN 0-8027-1373-4)hc (ISBN 0-1420-0161-9)pbk
*"On Their Own Terms: Science in China, 1550-1900", Benjamin A. Elman (ISBN 0-674-01685-8)

External links

* [http://www.zigongchina.com Zigong, China]
* [http://www.chinamuseums.com/zigong_dinosaur.htm Zigong Dinosaur Museum ]
* [http://www.chn-zg-lantern.org/english/index1.html Zigong Lantern Festival]
* [http://www.zdm.cn/en/index.html Official Chinese Site for Zigong Dinosaur Museum]
* [http://www.zg-xl.com/english/cdls/index.htm Zigong Lantern and Exhibition Company]

Famous people

Since the first century, thousands of pre-eminent people have been calling Zigong home. Among them the most famous individuals are Wu Yuzhang, Gao Ming, Liu Guangdi, Jiang Zhujun, Zou Nian, and Wei Minglun.