Former Site of Tianmenhe Hydropower Plant

Former Site of Tianmenhe Hydropower Plant

The former site of the Tianmenhe Hydropower Plant is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The former site of the Tianmenhe Hydropower Plant is located in Tongzi County, Guizhou Province. It dates back to 1943.

The small lake formed by the dam, known as Little West Lake, became widely known for having once imprisoned the Young Marshal Zhang Xueliang, but few are aware that about 1 kilometer away, inside the damp basement of a solitary structure tucked among the trees, two idle generator units operated continuously throughout the war, providing uninterrupted power that ensured the armaments factory could manufacture weapons. This is the first hydropower plant in Guizhou Province — the Tianmenhe Hydropower Plant.

In 1938, as the situation of the War of Resistance against Japan evolved, armament factories from various regions were relocated to Tongzi, Guizhou. Due to an electricity shortage, the Nationalist Government began planning the construction of a hydropower plant in the winter of 1939. The site was chosen on the western side of Shangtianmen Cave in the Dalou Mountain Range. To ensure concealment, a natural karst cave was used as the underground main engine room, with both the water intake and tailrace channels built as underground tunnels. The ground above the main engine room served as the power distribution room — the small building we see today. At the time, four universities were involved in the design and left their names and emblems inside the completed engine room. Construction of the hydropower plant and its auxiliary projects began in the spring of 1941, and debugging was completed in May 1945, when water was released to supply power.

On October 7, 2019, the former site of the Tianmenhe Hydropower Plant was included in the eighth batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Further Reading:

· Eighth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units