Zigong Salt History Museum, Salt history museum in Ziliujing District, Zigong, China

Zigong Salt History Museum occupies a traditional guildhall and displays thousands of tools, drilling equipment, and devices used in salt mining operations. The exhibits span multiple halls showing how extraction and production methods evolved over time.

Wealthy salt merchants from Shaanxi built this guildhall between 1736 and 1752 during Emperor Qianlong's reign when the salt trade was booming. The building itself stands as evidence of the tremendous wealth and influence these traders had accumulated.

The guildhall was also known as the Guandi Hall, and its name Xiqin refers to Shaanxi (Qin). It hosted Sichuan opera performances for salt merchants and local elites during festivals, and its galleried atrium was once used as a stage. A stone dragon and phoenix centerpiece sits in the large courtyard.

The museum occupies the Xiqin Guildhall at 107 Jiefang Road in Ziliujing District, on the bank of the Fuxi River. The building is arranged along an 86-metre axis running from the Wusheng Palace gate through the theatre towers to the main hall, with side galleries and courtyards around it. Allow time to walk the whole axis and the flanking wings.

Workers here used natural gas from underground deposits to heat salt brine and transform it into solid salt, a technique that was highly innovative for its time. This method gave them a major advantage over salt producers in other regions who relied on slower techniques.