Panzhihua China Third Front Construction Museum 攀枝花中国三线建设博物馆

About Panzhihua China Third Front Construction Museum

Panzhihua China Third Front Construction Museum (攀枝花中国三线建设博物馆) in Panzhihua (攀枝花), Sichuan, covers the Third Front (三线建设): from 1964, a large-scale build-up of defence, science, industry and transport in 13 central and western provinces and autonomous regions.

The subject is close to home: a Sichuan provincial gazetteer article calls Panzhihua a city born of the Third Front. The museum opened on 3 March 2015, the city's 50th anniversary, as the Sichuan Panzhihua Third Front Construction Museum. Its present name came in April 2016 with State Council approval, and the museum says it is the only Third Front museum allowed to put the word "China" in its title. Song Ping (宋平) wrote the calligraphy of the name board. It was rated a national second-grade museum in December 2020 and became a national patriotic education demonstration base in June 2021.

The site covers 59 mu, with 24,023 m² of buildings. The galleries share the theme "engraving the years of struggle, casting a historical monument" (铭刻峥嵘岁月、熔铸历史丰碑). Seven parts lead from the national background and the central leadership's decision, through the work in the 13 provinces and regions and the cities and key projects it produced, to Panzhihua itself as the top priority, the later adjustments and results, and the Third Front spirit. The museum lists more than 26,000 objects or sets from the 13 provinces and regions, over 30,000 photographs and more than 8,000 minutes of oral-history video, with five grade-one national relics among 412 precious items.

Several galleries use reconstructed scenes. A photo report from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection shows a research scientist's bare home, a 2.5-tonne cross-country truck coming off the assembly line at the Second Automobile Works (第二汽车制造厂) of Shiyan (十堰) in Hubei, and staff at work at the Jiuquan (酒泉) satellite launch base in Gansu.

What to look for

• Relief sculptures along both sides of the main building recording the builders' hardships
• The early builders' cooking pot propped on three stones
• A reconstruction of a research worker's sparse living quarters
• The Second Automobile Works scene: a 2.5-tonne off-road truck leaving the production line
• A recreated working scene from the Jiuquan satellite launch base
• The handprint wall of model workers
• The gallery on the development of Panzhihua, the programme's top-priority project

Location & getting there

Getting to Panzhihua China Third Front Construction Museum

• Search for 攀枝花中国三线建设博物馆 with 攀枝花市 and 东区.