Kailuan Museum

Kailuan Museum

The Kailuan Museum is a science education base.

The Kailuan Museum is located at No. 54 Xinhua East Road (within the Kailuan National Mining Park) and serves as the central building of the park. Covering a construction area of over 7,400 square meters, its main architectural style is neoclassical. The overall design emphasizes both the stately elegance of the structure and the simplicity and clarity of the details, aligning with the industrial theme. The design of the building draws inspiration from the 130-year-old hoist house of the Kailuan Mine and the former Tianjin Kailuan Mining Bureau Building constructed in 1922 (now the office building of the Tianjin Municipal Committee), embodying the deep affection of the Kailuan people for the mine and their nostalgic connection to the past.

The museum’s major thematic exhibition, "The Black River," spans an exhibition area of 3,500 square meters and a display line of 800 meters. It is divided into five sections and fourteen display units: "The History of Coal," "The Westernization Movement and the Rise of China’s Modern Coal Industry," "A Single Coal Mine Supporting Two Cities," "They Were Especially Capable of Fighting," and "A Century-Old Enterprise That Endures." The exhibition traces the formation and origins of coal, showcases the long history of ancient coal mining, displays historical remnants that mark the Kailuan Mine as the origin of China’s modern railway and mining industries, revives the indelible urban cultural memory of Tangshan, a city that rose due to coal, celebrates the unyielding and courageous spirit of generations of miners who were "especially capable of fighting," and sings the anthem of the new generation of Kailuan employees who carry on the legacy, ensuring the enduring prosperity of the century-old enterprise and achieving leapfrog development, reflecting the ambition of state-owned enterprises.

The exhibition makes full use of a variety of modern high-tech methods, offering continuous highlights and exciting experiences: in the lobby, a 14-meter-long large bronze thematic relief — "The Soul of the Mine" — is awe-inspiring; the grand multimedia landscape — "The Dance of Forest and Sea" — vividly depicts the transformation of plants into coal; the "Ancient Coal Mining" phantom imaging drama, which blends knowledge, fun, and high technology, vividly recreates coal mining scenes from the Ming and Qing dynasties; the restored office of Herbert Hoover, who once served as a mining engineer at Kailuan and later became the 31st President of the United States, allows visitors to learn about the sensational international lawsuit that took place over 100 years ago and reflect on the truth that backwardness invites aggression; the large sculpture "The Great Strike of the Five Kailuan Mines" and the rarely seen recreation of the Tangshan Earthquake vividly demonstrate the resilient spirit of the Kailuan people who were "especially capable of fighting" in the face of major historical events. In the 160-degree large-format panoramic digital film — "A Century of Dreams" — the indomitable spirit and the lofty aspirations of generations of Kailuan people, who continuously strive for national prosperity and corporate development, are powerfully expressed.

The Kailuan Museum boasts a profound historical and cultural foundation, housing a collection of nearly 20,000 cultural relics from modern and contemporary times, including: 47 first-grade relics, 72 second-grade relics, 326 third-grade relics, and over 10,000 general relics. It displays hundreds of varieties across five major categories: geological and mining relics, early industrial relics, revolutionary historical relics, and Kailuan historical and cultural documentary relics. Notably, the museum exhibits China’s earliest surviving stock certificate — the "1881 Stock Certificate of the Kailuan Mining Bureau"; iron rails from China’s first standard-gauge railway — the Tangxu Railway; and 1,661 volumes of "Ledgers Bound in Sheepskin," which record the operations of the Kailuan enterprise from 1901 to 1952. These are all rare and precious cultural relics in China, serving as the museum’s prized treasures, each with many true and legendary stories behind them. The Kailuan Museum combines "preservation and exhibition," reflecting the theme of the development of modern industry and the profound characteristics of mining culture. It fills a gap in China’s museum industry and has become a "physical textbook" for the public to explore Chinese coal culture, as well as a shrine for Chinese coal miners and coal culture.