Zhazidong 渣滓洞

About Zhazidong

The memorial’s physical layout makes the detention system legible: an outer court contains the office and interrogation space, while the inner court contains cells and an exercise yard. The small rooms and enclosed courts give substance to the stories of prisoners held here and the killings of 1949. Read the memorial interpretation alongside the surviving and restored spaces.

The site began as a coal mine, opened by Cheng Erchang (程尔昌) in 1920 and named for yielding more waste rock than coal. After the Second Sino-Japanese War it was converted into a prisoner holding facility by the Nationalist government's Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (军统局). It had earlier served as a branch of the nearby Bai Gongguan (白公馆) detention center before reopening to hold prisoners again in December 1947.

The site sits hidden on three sides by hills, with a ravine along the fourth. A bell outside the courtyard gate was struck once an hour to signal that nothing was amiss. The inner courtyard, which included an exercise yard, held 16 male cells and 2 female cells.

What to look for

• The outer court contains the former office and interrogation room.
• The inner court includes the men’s and women’s cells around an exercise yard.

Location & getting there

Getting to Zhazidong

Travel to the Zhazidong memorial entrance in the Geleshan memorial area of Shapingba district. Arrange the final local road connection specifically to Zhazidong; the memorial sites in this area have separate entrances.