Atlas of China
Atomic City (Plant 221 Site), Haiyan 原子城Yuánzǐ Chéng
4A scenic area · National heritage site · Haibei, Qinghai
- Time needed
- Half a day
- Days to budget
- Half a day
- City
- Haibei
- Region
- Qinghai
- Type
- Heritage
- Listed as
- 4A scenic area, National heritage site
About Atomic City (Plant 221 Site), Haiyan
Atomic City is the former site of Plant 221, China's first nuclear weapons research and production base, set up from 1958 on the Jinyintan grassland north-east of Qinghai Lake, where state accounts say the country's first atomic and hydrogen bombs were developed. The plant was dissolved in 1987 and the site handed to the local government in 1995; preserved parts include the detonation test ground, an assembly plant, the Shangxing station where, in the Qinghai Daily's account, the first atomic bomb was loaded on a train for Lop Nur, and an underground command centre. The Atomic City memorial museum, opened in 2009 and reopened in June 2021 after refurbishment, presents the history with photographs, documents and objects, and Jinyintan is also summer grazing land for local Tibetan and Mongol herders.
How to get to Atomic City (Plant 221 Site), Haiyan
Xihai town in Haiyan County, about 100 km north-west of Xining by road. The memorial museum is closed on Mondays.
Nearby
Also within 20 km: Dayu Folk Village, Haiyan 达玉民俗村 (under 10 km), Xihai Commandery City Site, Haiyan 西海郡故城 (under 10 km), Wenjia Ranch, Haiyan 文迦牧场 (10 km).
On the map
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