Zigong, City of Salt and Dinosaurs 自贡Zìgòng

Why go to Zigong, City of Salt and Dinosaurs

Zigong, in southern Sichuan, grew rich on salt and rewards a stop on three counts. The Zigong Dinosaur Museum at Dashanpu is built over a dense bed of Middle Jurassic fossils, with bones displayed in the excavation pit just as they were found; in the old salt quarters, the ornate 18th-century Xiqin Guild Hall houses the Salt History Museum and the timber derrick of the Shenhai Well still stands. Each Spring Festival season the city's lantern festival fills Chinese Lantern World with giant illuminated figures.

The story

Zigong's brine came from wells bored by hand with bamboo-and-iron percussion rigs; the Shenhai Well, completed in 1835, reached about 1,001 metres and is widely regarded as the first in the world to pass a kilometre. From the mid-Qing, wealthy salt merchants sponsored ever grander Spring Festival lanterns to show off their fortunes, and that rivalry grew into today's festival.

What to see at Zigong, City of Salt and Dinosaurs

• Zigong Dinosaur Museum 自贡恐龙博物馆: Built over the Dashanpu fossil bed, it shows mounted skeletons such as Omeisaurus, Yangchuanosaurus and Huayangosaurus. The central hall keeps the original excavation, a burial layer of about 350 square metres with the remains of 17 individuals.
• Salt History Museum (Xiqin Guild Hall) 盐业历史博物馆（西秦会馆）: The museum fills a guild hall built between 1736 and 1752 by salt merchants, a showpiece of Qing timber architecture with exhibits on how brine was drawn and boiled.
• Shenhai Well 燊海井: Bored from 1835 over about three years, this well reached 1,001 metres and produced both brine and gas. The timber derrick over it recalls the forests of derricks that once crowded the salt town.
• Chinese Lantern World 中华彩灯大世界: Since 2020 this has been the permanent home of Zigong's International Dinosaur Lantern Festival, in the city's eastern new district. The lanterns carry on a custom the city dates to the Tang, flourishing under the Ming and Qing.

How to visit Zigong, City of Salt and Dinosaurs

Group by district: the Dinosaur Museum and Shenhai Well are both in Da'an District, a short taxi hop apart, while the Salt History Museum is in Ziliujing District, the old salt quarter. The Dinosaur Museum closes on the first Monday of each month except holidays, so check before you go. Lantern World is for the festival season and after dark; a one-night stay lets you see the museums by day and the lanterns in the evening.

How to get to Zigong, City of Salt and Dinosaurs

High-speed trains from Chengdu East reach Zigong in about an hour. The Dinosaur Museum is in Dashanpu, about 7 km north-east of the centre, a short taxi ride from the salt museum and the Shenhai Well.

Where to stay

Stay in Ziliujing District for the old salt quarter and the Salt History Museum, or in the Nanhu area, the city's newer commercial centre with malls and restaurants. The Dinosaur Museum is a taxi ride out of either.

What to eat

• Cold-eaten spicy rabbit 冷吃兔: Rabbit fried, stir-fried and reduced in a chilli-pepper sauce, then eaten cold; it is a Zigong speciality with national geographical-indication status.
• Huobianzi beef 火边子牛肉: Braised beef sliced thin, dried and smoked over fire, a local salt-worker food that also has geographical-indication status.
• Fresh-pot rabbit 鲜锅兔: Rabbit stir-fried with young ginger and fresh chilli in the bold style of Zigong's salt-merchant cooking.

Tips for visiting Zigong, City of Salt and Dinosaurs

• The Dinosaur Museum is closed on the first Monday of each month except public holidays, and it limits daily numbers, so book ahead online with your passport details.
• The lantern festival usually opens in January or early February and is best after dark; avoid the peak days of the Spring Festival holiday if you can.
• The Salt History Museum, open year-round, and the Shenhai Well are about 3 km apart in the old town, an easy salt-themed half day.

Nearby

• Jiayang Little Steam Train 嘉阳小火车 100 km
  A coal-era steam train puffing through rapeseed fields to an old mining town
• Dazu Rock Carvings 大足石刻 100 km
  A cliffside storybook of Buddhist hells, mothers and thousand-armed Guanyin
• Leshan Giant Buddha 乐山大佛 100 km
  A 71-metre Buddha carved from a riverside cliff where three rivers meet
• Shunan Bamboo Sea 蜀南竹海 100 km
  Ridge upon ridge of feathery bamboo, laced with misty trails, waterfalls and cliff shrines
• Anyue Rock Carvings 安岳石刻 110 km
  Tang and Song Buddhas carved into quiet hillsides, led by a 23-metre Buddha at rest

Also within 30 km: Yuchuan Ancestral Hall, Zigong 玉川公祠 (under 10 km), Huanhou Palace, Zigong 桓侯宫 (under 10 km), Xianshi Ancient Town 仙市古镇 (under 10 km), World Fig Expo Park, Weiyuan 世界无花果博览园 (10 km), Jianshan Scenic Area, Zigong 尖山 (20 km), Lexian Peninsula, Neijiang 乐贤半岛 (30 km).

On the map

Open Zigong, City of Salt and Dinosaurs on the illustrated map to see the terrain around it, what else is close, and to add it to a trip and plan the days.

Learn more

• Wikipedia: Zigong