Panzhihua ( zh, c=攀枝花, p=Pānzhīhuā), formerly Dukou ( zh, labels=no, c=渡口), is a
prefecture-level city
A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC), ranking below a province of China, province and above a Counties of the People's Republic of China, county in China's ...
located in the far south of
Sichuan
Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...
province,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
, at the confluence of the Jinsha and Yalong Rivers. It has an administrative area of , and a population at the 2020 census of 1,212,203. 806,395 lived in the built-up (or metro) area made of 3 urban districts.
Its economy relies almost entirely on its giant mine, one of the country's largest. The economy in Panzhihua is mainly centered on natural resource development and heavy-industry. The city grew into a major city for steel production during the
Third Front construction
The Third Front Movement ( zh, s=三线建设, p=Sānxiàn jiànshè) or Third Front Construction was a Government of China, Chinese government campaign to develop industrial and military facilities in the country's interior. The campaign wa ...
. The urban center was built on top of mountainous terrains. In 2005, Panzhihua won the "China Excellent Tourist City" title, in 2008 it won the "National Health City" and the "China Vanadium, Titanium" titles.
History
The construction of Panzhihua occurred during China's Third Front construction, a
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...
-era campaign to develop basic and national defense industry in China's rugged interior in the event of foreign invasion. Mao viewed the building of the city as so important that he repeatedly told other party leadership that until it was built he would "not sleep well a single day." Speaking figuratively, he routinely emphasized the importance of developing Panzhihua by stating that if party leaders would not develop the city, he would "ride a donkey and hold a meeting" to build it himself.
Southwest Third Front Commission Vice Director
Cheng Zihua
Cheng Zihua (; June 20, 1905 – March 30, 1991) was a People's Republic of China politician and military general. In his memoirs, Cheng highlights Panzhihua's suitability for a strategic industrial rear because its "lofty mountains and steep hills" would make it difficult for enemy infantry to access or for enemy airplanes to bomb.
Meeting with Panzhihua leaders in October 1964,
Bo Yibo
Bo Yibo (; 17 February 1908 – 15 January 2007) was a Chinese politician. He was one of the most senior political figures in China during the 1980s and 1990s.
After joining the Chinese Communist Party when he was 17, he worked as a Communist P ...
emphasized that while it was critical to increase production in the area, doing so had to avoid the mistakes of the Great Leap Forward, a time when the emphasis on industrial production resulted in many people lacking "grain to eat."
In an effort to avoid what Chinese policymakers viewed as a mistake of Soviet-style industrialization, the builders of Panzhihua were tasked with constructing in an austere style consistent with the success of the
Daqing oil field
The Daqing Oil Field (), formerly romanized as "Taching", is the largest oil field in the People's Republic of China, located between the Songhua river and Nen River in Heilongjiang province. When the Chinese government began to use pinyin for ro ...
—service areas, multistory buildings, and cultural areas should be avoided in order to ensure maximum resources for heavy industry. Consistent with this mandate, Director of the Planning Commission Li Fuchun directed that at Panzhihua, workers should "dig a hole for a toilet" and only canvas tents should be necessary for housing. According to academic Hou Li, the resulting style of construction is best characterized as "industrialization without urbanization."Panzhihua Steel was built during the Third Front campaign. Because planners chose locations based on military defense considerations, Panzhihua Steel was built on the side of a mountain, unlike most steel factories which are built on flat land. To ensure that the facility had the level foundation necessary for steel production, workers built the factory on massive steps carved out of the slope. Instead of the internal track system common to steel factories, technicians used a cable system to connect different parts of the facility to better adapt to the local terrain.
Consistent with the Third Front construction's emphasis on secrecy due to national security concerns, the completion of the Panzhihua facility was not promoted at the time. Today, the city government of Panzhihua promotes it as a model of Chinese technological ingenuity.
Panzhihua city government built a hospital in 1965 to provide health care for Third Front workers and their families, with Panzhihua Steel itself also establishing a hospital in 1970. In 1966, two power stations were built in Panzhihua as was a water processing plant. Due to Panzhihua's focus on industrialization, factories and mines had priority access to these utilities, with general access to filtered water and power coming over time.
During the period of the Third Front campaign, almost every
work unit
A work unit or ''danwei'' () is the name given to a place of employment in the People's Republic of China. The term ''danwei'' remains in use today, as people still use it to refer to their workplace. Prior to Deng Xiaoping's economic reforms, a ...
in Panzhihua was a
state-owned enterprise
A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a business entity created or owned by a national or local government, either through an executive order or legislation. SOEs aim to generate profit for the government, prevent private sector monopolies, provide goo ...
. The social services provided by these units meant that Panzhihua residents generally had a much greater welfare net than rural residents generally.
In recent years, Panzhihua has experienced major population outflows. As a result, its government now offers subsidies to those who move to Panzhihua and have two or three children.
Geography and climate
The area has a
monsoon
A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...
-influenced
humid subtropical climate
A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
''Cwa''), with short, mild, dry winters and long, hot, and humid summers. Highs drop to in December and January, quickly rebounding during the dry springs, and peak in May and June, unlike much of the rest of the province. Much of the annual rainfall occurs from June to September. Panzhihua is one of unique places in the world without any seasonal lag. For instance, the hottest time in this city is exactly in the summer solstice, and the same happens with winter. The 24 solar terms of China exactly define the beginning and end of each season by both solar radiation and temperature here. Extremes there since the station's establishment in 1961 ranged from on December 25, 1999 to on 31 May 2023.
Hydrology
Panzhihua lies in the
Yangtze River
The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...
basin, holding more than 95 waterways. They feed the Jinsha and Yandalong Rivers, which in turn feed the Yangtze. Annual runoff volume is 110.2 billion cubic meters. The potential
hydropower
Hydropower (from Ancient Greek -, "water"), also known as water power or water energy, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, ...
capacity is 700 million kilowatts. The installed capacity is 3.474 million kilowatts.
Geology
Panzhihua is close to the Xigeda-Yuanmou fracture in the Sichuan-Yunnan border. Its Renhe District was the epicenter of the 2008 Panzhihua earthquake.
Archaeology
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
cultural remains are representative of various types of bronze artifacts. Under the jurisdiction of Panzhihua City in Yanbian, Miyi and Renhe District, archeologists have collected nearly 20 bronze artifacts. Most of the dig sites were tomb sites excavated specifically for funerary objects. Practical objects were found that can be divided into three categories. Weapons such as bronze swords, bronze spears, and bronze Ge, tools such as copper axes, copper knives and copper hoes, and decorative objects like copper bracelets were found.
The objects were similar to those of western
Yunnan province
Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...
, reflecting ethnic group similarities. The relics date from the
Warring States
The Warring States period in Chinese history (221 BC) comprises the final two and a half centuries of the Zhou dynasty (256 BC), which were characterized by frequent warfare, bureaucratic and military reforms, and struggles for gre ...
~
Western Han
The Han dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) and a warring int ...
period.
Tourism resources
The landscape is dominated by natural areas. Attractions include a red cell spa, the Cave Stone Forest, the Jinsha River and Hai lake. In recent years, the Panzhihua government has been working on the development of the Sunshine Recreation Project to attract more tourists to Panzhihua for their winter vacations.
''Cycas'' forest
''
Cycas
''Cycas'' is a genus of cycad, and the only genus in the family Cycadaceae with all other genera of cycad being divided between the Stangeriaceae and Zamiaceae families. '' Cycas circinalis'', a species endemic to India, was the first cycad speci ...
'' first appeared some 280 million years ago in the
Permian
The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years, from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.902 Mya. It is the s ...
period. They consist of some 110 species. In 1971, Sichuan Agricultural Science and the original forest vegetation Panzhihua aerial survey, found more than 100,000 specimens. It is the highest altitude ''Cycas'' forest, hosting the largest number and size of specimens. This forest consists of an endemic species, '' Cycas panzhihuaensis''.
Ertan Hydropower Station
The
Ertan Dam
The Ertan Dam () is an arch dam on the Yalong River, a tributary of the Yangtze River in Sichuan Province, in southwest China.
The dam has six hydroelectric generators, each with a generating capacity of 550 MW. The total generating capacity o ...
( zh, s=二滩大坝, t=二灘大壩, p=Èrtān Dàbà) is an
arch dam
An arch dam is a concrete dam that is curved upstream in plan. The arch dam is designed so that the force of the water against it, known as hydrostatic pressure, presses against the arch, causing the arch to straighten slightly and strengtheni ...
on the
Yalong River
The Yalong River ( zh, 雅砻江, Pinyin, p ''Yǎlóngjiāng'', Wade–Giles, w ''Ya-lung Chiang'', Help:IPA/Mandarin, IPA ), or Nyag Chu (Standard Tibetan, Tibetan: , Tibetan pinyin, z ''Nyag Qu''), is a major tributary ...
, a tributary of the
Yangtze River
The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...
in Sichuan.
The dam has six
hydroelectric
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...
generators, each with a generating capacity of 550 MW. The total generating capacity of the facility is 3,300 MW, one of the largest in China. Annual production averages 17
TWh TWH or twh could refer to:
* Tai Dón language, a language of Vietnam, Laos, and China
* Tai Wo Hau station, Hong Kong; MTR station code
* Tennessee Walking Horse, a breed of horse
* Toronto Western Hospital, a hospital in Toronto, Canada
* Tun ...
, and through December 5, 2006, it produced over 100 TWh of electricity. Construction of the dam started in September 1991 and was completed on December 26, 1999. A total of of material was excavated during construction.
Administrative divisions
Economy
Panzhihua is a highly industrialized area dominated by gigantic mining operations. Most of the land not in use for mining is taken up by subsistence farming.
Mineral Resources
Panzhihua has abundant natural resources, but remained undeveloped until 1960. It was founded on a remote headwater of the
Yangtze River
The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...
in 1966 as a steel production center. It grew rapidly as it remained relatively prosperous while the rest of the country suffered under the
Cultural Revolution
The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...
. The city is home to the
Panzhihua Iron and Steel
Panzhihua Iron and Steel (Group) Company Limited, or Pangang, is the state-owned enterprise in Panzhihua, Sichuan
Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River t ...
(Group) Co, called "Pangang ", the leading steel company in southwest China.
Proven iron ore (mainly vanadium-titanium magnetite) reserves are 73.8 million tons, 72.3% of the provincial total. At the end of 2007, the city's reserves of vanadium-titanium magnetite were 6.694 billion tons, of which: titanium reserves were 425 million tons, 93% of the national total, the world's largest; vanadium reserves were 10.38 million tons, 63% in the nation, third in the world. Cobalt reserves were 746 million tons. Other minerals were chromium, gallium, scandium, nickel, copper, lead, zinc, manganese, platinum and other rare metals.
*Panzhihua University
*The city's top high schools are the No.3 Panzhihua high school (located downtown) and the no.7 high school (located in the western district (Qingxiangping))