The Pearl of the Mountain Cavern

The Pearl of the Mountain Cavern

The Pearl of the Mountain Cavern refers to the Xinzhuang Power Plant. It is China’s largest underground wartime power plant.

The Xinzhuang Power Plant is built inside the mountain of Xinzhuangjian, located on the banks of the Jinsha River. With an installed capacity of 100,000 kilowatts, it is a fully underground high-temperature, high-pressure thermal power plant constructed in the early stages of Panzhihua’s development to meet wartime needs. The main powerhouse is entirely housed within a Mesozoic-era...

The Xinzhuang Power Plant is built inside the mountain of Xinzhuangjian, located on the banks of the Jinsha River. With an installed capacity of 100,000 kilowatts, it is a fully underground high-temperature, high-pressure thermal power plant constructed in the early stages of Panzhihua’s development to meet wartime needs. The main powerhouse is entirely situated within a Mesozoic granite cavern. Inside the mountain, a series of vertical and horizontal tunnels form a giant Chinese character “用” (meaning “use”). The three vertical tunnels, resembling the strokes of the character, are each 220 meters long; the three horizontal tunnels, also representing strokes, are each 80 meters long—these are the electrical tunnel, turbine tunnel, and boiler tunnel respectively. All the caverns were constructed using advanced shotcrete and rock bolt technology to ensure their strength and safety. The interior is equipped with air conditioning systems and noise control facilities, providing a relatively comfortable working environment for the staff. From the initial site selection in early 1966, construction began the following year, and the second unit was put into operation in April 1977—a process spanning over ten years. Just the excavation of the mountain tunnels alone took nearly five years. This massive, complex project, with its high precision technical demands and remarkable achievements, fully demonstrates the noble pioneering spirit and exceptional creativity of China’s working class. Under extremely harsh conditions during the early stages of Panzhihua’s development, the city’s electrical pioneers, through their hard work and perseverance, created a great miracle in the history of human construction.