Shenyang Foundry Museum

Shenyang Foundry Museum

Covering an area of 40,000 square meters with a main building of 17,800 square meters, the Shenyang Foundry Museum houses a collection of 1,523 foundry equipment pieces and castings, recreating the scenes of workers in the production workshops from many years ago. This, currently the largest foundry museum in China, was reconstructed on the original site of the Shenyang Foundry Factory. The Shenyang Foundry Factory was established in 1939, originally founded as the Japanese Takasago Manufacturing Plant. After the liberation of Shenyang, the factory underwent several name changes before finally being named the Shenyang Foundry Factory in 1956.

The Shenyang Foundry Factory was the largest foundry enterprise in Asia. Under the urban planning strategy of “relocating from east to west” in the old Tiexi industrial zone, it was moved to the Foundry Industrial Park within the Shenyang Economic and Technological Development Zone. The Tiexi District decided to preserve the large Foundry Workshop No. 1 of the factory and transform it into a museum that showcases the industrial heritage of the Northeast’s old industrial base — this is now the Shenyang Foundry Museum, currently the largest of its kind in China, located at No. 14 Weigong North Street, Tiexi District, Shenyang.

The Foundry Museum mainly consists of two parts: an outdoor exhibition area and an indoor exhibition area. The items in the outdoor exhibition area may seem randomly scattered, but they are actually thoughtfully arranged, showcasing both the rugged grandeur of industry — such as steel ingot molds weighing reportedly 30 tons, 13-ton sprue pipes, and 15-ton iron ladles — as well as touches of human warmth. For example, in front of a workshop on the west side of the yard, there is a large cast iron tank filled halfway with water, in which more than ten goldfish swim. The tank is inscribed with the words “Formerly a cooling tank, now a fishbowl.”

The indoor exhibition area includes the “Review of Tiexi Industrial Development,” “Industrial Exhibitions and Cultural Performances,” and the “Shenyang Tiexi Creative Industry Center.” Upon entering the factory courtyard through the museum gate, the “Review of Tiexi Industrial Development” exhibition area is located on the right. As soon as you enter, you can see a set of handmade blue long benches and tables used for workers’ pre-shift meetings, along with a 1950s steel casting workshop from Shenzhong Heavy Machinery Factory, a cracking gas centrifugal compressor unit, a double-inlet double-outlet coal mill, a 1973 radial drilling machine from Shenyang Zhongjie Friendship Factory, gas masks produced by Shenyang Chemical Factory, the Baishan brand bicycle made by Shenyang Bicycle Factory, a 1992 50-horsepower four-wheel tractor “Double Horse” from Shenyang Tractor Factory, and a 1999 trackless trolley produced by Shenyang Bus Manufacturing Factory.