Zigong Travel Guide

Zigong, located in the south of Sichuan basins, is one of the key industrial cities in Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle. Known as the Aged Salt City, the Home of Dinosaurs and the Lantern City in the South, Zigong has a high reputation for dinosaur fossils, well salt and Three Feats on lantern making. With the splendid culture and history, Zigong owns 88 units of the State Protected Culture Relics, including the famous Zigong Dinosaurs Museum, the Salt History Museum, and the traditional lantern fair attracts thousands of visitors every year from allover the world.

Things to do in Zigong

History of Salt Industry

The history of Zigong is tightly connected with salt industry and the city is well-known for its 1,900 years of salt manufacturing history. People here began to drill wells to obtain well salt in the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220). It has made a name for itself as a salt capital since the Western Jin Dynasty (265-316). In 1835, it had the first salt well in the world which exceeded one thousand meters deep at which time the salt manufacturing of the region reached its peak.

Sites to Visit

Zigong Salt History Museum

Housed in the Xiqing Cuildhall, Zigong Salt History Museum is the only professional museum of the history of salt industry in China. Xiqin Guildhall was built by the Shaanxi salt tradesmen in the first year of emperor Qianlong (A.D. 1736). It represents the highest level of architecture technologies of that age and is also a symbol of wealth of salt merchants.

The most famous attraction of Shuzheng Valley is the Nuorilang Waterfall. It is 20 meters high and 320 meters wide. It is recorded as the widest highland waterfall in China, the widest travertine-topped waterfall in the world. Above the waterfall are Nuorilang Lakes and Shuzheng Lakes are a serious lakes surrounded by colorful trees.

Nowadays, there are over 1,300 different implements including a complete set of over 500 drilling tools exhibited in the museum. And large scale mural paintings depict the 2,000 year evolution of mine drilling, salt making, and natural gas usage. Most of the items displayed are exceptionally advanced for their time.

Opening Time:
8:30 to 17:30 Monday to Sunday (stop entering at 17:00)

Recommended Travel Length:
About 1-2 hours

Tickets Price:
The full price of tickets for adults is 20 RMB, while students can get a half price at 10 RMB.

Dinosaur Museum

Zigong Dinosaur Museum, located 9 km northeast of the center of Zigong city, has been built at the world-famous Dashanpu Dinosaur Fauna. It is one of the three largest dinosaur museums with burial sites in the world built on the site of a group of dinosaur fossils. Built in 1987, the Zigong Dinosaur Museum is also the first museum based almost entirely on dinosaurs in Asia.

The museum stores nearly all species of dinosaurs living in Jurassic of 205-135 million years ago. The basic exhibitions are displayed according to the sequence of ‘Dinosaur World’, ‘Dinosaur Burial Site’, ‘Fauna and Flora of the Age of Dinosaurs’, ‘Treasure Hall’ and ‘How could Dinosaurs Stand Up’. These exhibitions can not only inform visitors of the information of dinosaurs, but also focus on the exhibition of the burial site. From this angle, it has fully embodied the double-characteristics of a professional museum with burial site.

Opening Time:
8:30 to 17:30 Monday to Sunday (stop selling tickets at 17:00)
Tour guide service from 9:20 to 16:30

Recommended Travel Length:
Half day is enough for you to visit the Dinosaur Museum.

Tickets Price:
The full price of tickets for adults is 40 RMB, while students, juniors(under 18) and seniors (60-69) can get a half price at 20 RMB. Children under 1.2m and the senior over 70 years' old are free.

Zigong Lantern Festival

As the 'Lantern Town of the South Kingdom', Zigong has been hold an annual lantern festival since Tang dynasty (AD 618-907). The Lantern Festival generally lasts around a month during the first month of the lunar year. As one of the largest folk cultural activities in China, it attracts many visitors from China and around the world. During the festival, you can see thousands of China's colorful traditional lanterns made of bamboo, silk, paper, glass bottles and porcelain tableware. And most lanterns' shapes are based on Chinese ancient myths, legends, folk customs, historical stories and other famous stories.

The festival is held in Zigong Colored Lantern Park. The ticket for adults is 100 RMB during the Spring Festival, while 30 RMB at other times. Half fare for children, and free for the seniors (over 70).

Best time to visit Zigong

Summer is the best time visit Zigong, especially from May to August. Belonging to the subtropical zone enjoying a humid monsoon climate, it is temperate with enough rainfall but without sufficient sunshine. The spring usually comes early, and high temperature and most of the rainfall concentrate on the summer. The autumn is relatively shorter in the four seasons. But the winter is not very cold and rarely rainy.

How to get to Zigong

Since there is no airport in Zigong city, travelers can get to Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport first, and get to Zigong by taking expressway from Chengdu, which takes about 3 hours. And the distance from Chongqing to Zigong is basically the same as that from Chengdu to Zigong.

Compared with getting to Zigong from Chongqing by train, it is more convenient to get to Zigong from Chengdu. There are more scheduled trains from Chengdu to Zigong, and the journey takes about 5 to 6 hours.