Zigong Salt History Museum

Zigong Salt History Museum Facts

The Zigong Salt Industry History Museum, housed in the former Xiqin Guildhall in the city of Zigong in China's Sichuan province. Zigong has been known as Salt City for centuries because of its brine extraction techniques and the attendant salt-related culture. The museum is far more interesting that it may sound! 

Chinese Name: 自贡市盐业历史博物馆

Type: History Museums; Salt Industry

Address: Zigong City, Sichuan Province

Best Seasons: Spring and autumn, all year round.

Recommended Visiting Hours: about 1-2 hours

Opening Hours: 8:30-17:30 (last entry 17:00) all year round except Chinese Lunar New Year's Eve.

Ticket:  CNY 20

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Why is Zigong Salt History Museum So Special?

1. Zigong Salt Industry History Museum is the only one of its kind in the whole of China.
2. Most of the items displayed are exceptionally advanced for their time. They exemplify not only the prosperity of Zigong’s salt making industry, but also the wisdom and engineering skills of the indigenous Chinese people. Visitors to the museum, numbering about 20,000 annually, are actually permitted to operate many of the salt mining devices.

Brief Introduction of Zigong Salt History Museum

The Zigong  Salt History Museum (自贡市盐业历史博物馆) is a museum in Zigong , Sichuan Province, Southwest China. It is housed in the Xiqin Guildhall (西秦会馆), built in 1736 during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor in the Qing dynasty. The building is a Major Historical and Cultural Site of China.

Xiqin Guildhall was funded by the Shaanxi salt tradesmen, and used as a meeting place for salt merchants from Shaanxi, the main conduit for the Zigong salt. Another building nearby on the banks of the Fuxi (pronounced “fu’shee”) River was the Guild Hall for the salt merchants of Sichuan. The guild hall took sixteen years to build at a great cost. It has a splendid exterior and exquisite internal structure and decoration, including many delicate stone and wooden carvings. It represents the highest level of architecture technologies of its age and is a symbol of wealth of salt merchants. The interior contains a large courtyard with a stone centerpiece of a dragon and phoenix. The guild hall once often hosted Sichuan opera for salt merchants as well as local elites in festivals.

Main Buildings and Attractions of Zigong Salt History Museum

The museum is composed of two main buildings. The Xiqin Guildhall was established by the Shaanxi salt tradesmen, and functioned as a meeting venue for salt merchants from Shaanxi. Covering an area of 6303 square meters, the guild hall took sixteen years to build at a great cost. It was constructed in a grand exterior structure and exquisite decoration including lots of delicate stone and wooden carvings, which represents the advanced architecture technologies of the Ming and Qing dynasties with the folk architectural style. The hall is also a symbol of wealth and power of the salt merchants in Zigong.

Zigong Salt History Museum hosts over 1300 items including a complete set of over 500 drilling tools to reveal the development of salt mine drilling, salt making and natural gas usage in over 2000 years’ time. It shows the accomplishments of Zigong’s salt making industry as well as the wisdom and skills of Chinese people. Some of the salt mining devices are available for visitors to experience.

Best Seasons to Visit Zigong

How to get to Zigong Salt History Museum

Travel with ChinaDragonTours (top recommended)

If you want to get out of the traffic and hassle of navigation, you can book a private tour package that includes visiting, dining and transfer from us. Our local guide and driver will escort you to Zigong Salt History Museum in the fastest and most convenient way and take care of all the details. You just have to focus on the visiting.

Independent Traveler

By Flight
The airport in Zigong has not yet well constructed till today. There are two large international airports near this city for you choice. Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport has opened more than 70 international airlines and Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport has opened 58 airlines to and from Europe, American, Australia, and Asia…

By Train
Zigong Railway Station is located at the Ziliujing District that is the central area of the city. Since many high speed trains to and from Chengdu, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Guiyang, Hangzhou, Kunming, etc. stop here, it is very convenient to reach this city.

By Long-distance Bus
From Chengdu, you can take a long-distance bus to Zigong within 3 hours. You can buy a ticket in Beimen Bus Station for RMB84, Xinnanmen Bus Station for about RMB50 (to Zigong Dinosaur Museum), Chengdu Bus Terminal for about RMB85 or Shuangliu Airport Bus Station for about RMB86.

Getting Around
In Zigong city, taking a regular bus or a taxi to travel is very convenient and cheap. You can also find many long-distance buses to other cities like Luzhou, Yibin, Neijiang, Chengdu, Leshan, Emei, Mianyang, Nanchong, Chongqing, etc.

Useful Travel Tips

1. .Avoid visiting during school holidays and Golden Week in October as there will be large numbers of local tourists.
2. Accommodation
   It is very easy to find a comfortable hotel or hostel to stay in Zigong, especially in the most prosperous Ziliujing District. You can choose the luxury Tanmulin Celebrity City Hotel of five-Star and some four-star hotels with pleasant services and superior equipment, such as the Zigong Huidong Hotel, Ying Xiang JinJiang Tower, Xiongfei Holiday Hotel, Vilu Reef International Hotel, Sophia Hotel, etc. Also, there are a lot of comfortable hotels of nice prices, like the 7 Days Inn Zigong Bus Station Branch near the bus station. But please remember that though the hotels in the downtown area will make your trip more convenient, it may be noisier at night.

Nearby Attractions

• Shenhaijing Salt Well
• China Color Lantern Museum
• Zigong Dinosaur Museum

Edited by Bella Ren/任新月