Zigong is so low-key, it's surprising that such a beautiful Xiqin Guild Hall has zero tourists

📍 Zigong Salt Industry History Museum 💰 Ticket: 35 yuan/person 🕕 Visiting duration: 0.5-1h Continuing my travel notes in Zigong. This small southwestern city is not very famous, indeed less known than Chengdu. But if you say it's famous, rabbit heads, lantern festivals, well salt, dinosaur fossils, each one is more popular than the last. Today, let's talk about one of Zigong's specialties—well salt. Historically, Zigong has drilled over 13,000 well salt mines, with the deepest reaching more than 1,000 meters underground, which is equivalent to drilling through Mount Everest more than 400 times. To understand well salt, we must mention two destinations: one is Shenhai Well, and the other is the 'Zigong Salt Industry History Museum' we are visiting today. Its predecessor, the Xiqin Guild Hall, was built by Shaanxi salt merchants during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. Shaanxi + salt merchants can be said to be fully buffed, and you can imagine how 'extravagantly inhumane' it is here. The salt industry history here is certainly present, but it's mainly about the displays, which are somewhat dull. Compared to the displays, the most worthwhile aspect to see here is actually the architecture. The architectural style here blends the styles of the Ming and Qing dynasties, both royal and folk. In addition to its grand scale, the details are also very well-crafted. A large number of stone and wood carvings are exquisitely detailed, and the extensive gilding speaks to the cost-no-object construction, as well as the beautifully intricate caisson ceilings and complex flying eaves that you would only expect to see in Beijing. It can be said that whatever elements are luxurious and grand, they've been incorporated here. In all of China, aside from the emperor, perhaps only the fabulously wealthy salt merchants would dare to do this. In 1959, Grandpa D personally designated this place as China's only salt industry history museum, allowing it to be perfectly preserved to this day.