The Fanzhai Alum Mine Ruins

The Fanzhai Alum Mine Ruins

The Fanzhai Alum Mine Ruins are a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Fanzhai in Cangnan County, named after alum, boasts proven alum reserves of approximately 240 million tons, accounting for about 80% of China’s total and 60% of the world’s, earning it the title “Alum Capital of the World.” Alum mining and smelting in Fanzhai began in the late Song and early Yuan dynasties, boasting a history of over 640 years. Today, the area still preserves a wealth of historical and cultural sites, including the Ancestral Temple of Alum, stone stairways up the mountain, ancient alum kilns, miners’ stone houses, former residences of mine owners, workers’ auditoriums, Soviet-style office buildings, and more—altogether forming over 100 mining heritage sites across five major categories. The alum mine still employs semi-mechanized, semi-manual mining and smelting techniques, and its alum smelting ruins are the only still-operating industrial “living relic” among Zhejiang Province’s cultural relics protection units.

The main alum mine—Jilong Mountain—features 10 mined-out levels, complete with shafts, inclined shafts, and blind inclined shafts, forming a comprehensive production, transport, and safety system. The mined-out area spans 3.53 million cubic meters, with countless underground tunnels interlocking and stacking in layers. The temperature inside the tunnels remains a constant 16°C year-round, and the complete production, transport, and safety systems are still intact. A large underground meeting hall built during the Cultural Revolution still bears remnants of Mao Zedong quotes on the walls. It is currently the only mine tunnel tourism experience area in Wenzhou Alum Mine that is open to the public in a semi-open format for visits, tours, and educational purposes.

In 2012, Cangnan County initiated the application process for Wenzhou Alum Mine to be recognized as a “World Industrial Cultural Heritage” site. Through a series of activities, it has completed the restoration and preservation project of the ancient dwellings in Fu De Wan, and established a number of cultural facilities and tourism projects, including the Wenzhou Alum Mine Museum, the Alum Capital Exotic Stones Museum, the Ore Museum, and the Alum Culture Experience Center. The Fu De Wan Miners’ Village also received the “UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation – Honourable Mention.”

Fanzhai Town, a settlement formed around mining, is home to a number of provincial and municipal intangible cultural heritages, such as alum sculpture crafts and miners’ work chants. Traditional folk events are still observed, such as the Alum Festival on the sixth day of the ninth lunar month and the procession of the Horse Fairy Goddess on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. In recent years, Fanzhai Town has focused on the development vision of “building a town with culture and prospering through tourism.” With “applying for World Industrial Cultural Heritage status” as the main thread and “developing all-for-one tourism” as the key approach, it is vigorously promoting the joint creation of four town designations: “China’s Historical and Cultural Town,” “China’s Museum Town,” “Provincial-Level Sanitary Town,” and “Provincial-Level Tourism Characteristic Town.” It is also actively applying for five national-level honors: “National Industrial Heritage,” “National Industrial Heritage Tourism Base,” “National Mine Park,” “National Botanical Garden,” and “National Cultural Relics Protection Unit.” The successful inclusion of the alum mine ruins in the eighth batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units is a significant achievement in Fanzhai Town’s efforts to promote cultural relics protection, and further strengthens its confidence in the alum mine’s heritage application.

On October 7, 2019, the Fanzhai Alum Mine Ruins were included in the eighth batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Fanzhai Town: Located in the mountainous basin in the southeastern part of Cangnan County, Fanzhai Town has an average elevation of 280 meters. The town is named after its abundant alum production and is known as the “Alum Capital of the World,” being the longest-established mining town in southern Zhejiang. It governs 17 administrative villages, 9 residential areas, and 2 offices, with a total population of 43,000, 54% of whom are non-agricultural residents. Covering an area of 59.6 square kilometers, it is a one-star civilized town, municipal-level sanitary town, and a model town for supporting the military in Wenzhou, and is also one of Cangnan County’s economically and culturally strong towns.

Fanzhai Town boasts abundant produce and rich resources. In addition to... More details about Fanzhai Town++

Further Reading:

· Fifth Batch of Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Eighth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units