Gifts of Light and Earth

During the Chinese Lunar New Year holidays, lantern festivals are held in many cities across the country. Due to varying climates and local customs, the designs and varieties of lanterns differ from city to city. Yet there is a largely common factor: Most lanterns are made in the southern Sichuan city of Zigong.

The City of Lanterns

According to historical records, as early as the 12th Century, Zigong already practiced the custom of adorning homes with glowing lanterns and other festive decorations during Chinese Lunar New Year. And it was during the period from the 14th to the 19th Century that the lantern fair in Zigong took primary shape. It became a large-scale folk cultural event with fixed content celebrated in special times. Later, there were frequent wars in Sichuan Province, and until after the founding of the People’s Republic, lantern festivals in Zigong were not revived in a large scale.

In 1987, to better promote Zigong City, the Zigong municipal government hosted the First Zigong International Dinosaurs Lantern Festival & Economic and Trade Fair. The success of this event opened a new channel for Zigong, allowing the city to become better acquainted with the rest of the world. From 1987 to 2008, Zigong has held 14 lantern festivals, and is today acknowledged as the lantern city of China.

Fantastic Fossils

The five Fuwa are the mascots of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. (Image: China Pictorial)All the 14 festivals have used the name Zigong International Dinosaurs Lantern Festival because Zigong is home to the world’s third largest dinosaur fossil museum. And plans are in the works to develop a dinosaur-theme park in cooperation with Disney.

The Dashanpu Dinosaur Fossil Site, famous both at home and abroad, is located 11 kilometers northeast of Zigong’s city seat. Discovered in 1972, a considerable number of fossilized dinosaur remains have been excavated. In three to four layers, the fossil concentration area covers 17,000 square meters. In just two 800-square-kilometer areas, nearly 100 fossilized dinosaurs, around 30 dinosaur skeletons in good condition, and other vertebrate fossils were unearthed. The largest majority of the fossils are rarely seen elsewhere in the world in the stratums of the same age, and the site is thus of high value in terms of scientific-research and tourism.

In 1987, Zigong Dinosaur Museum was constructed on the site. As the largest of its kind in Asia and the third largest in the world, the museum provides important materials for the study on the Meso-Jurassic Period. Also an exciting place for tourists, the museum attracts about 200,000 annually.

Salt City

Today the dinosaur and lantern festival are two splashy attractions promoted by Zigong, while a third quieter civic attribute is salt. For generations, Zigong salt has deeply influenced the daily life for the people of this city and beyond.

Zigong salt production originated in the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220), matured in the period from the 7th to the 13th Century, and reached a peak during the late 19th Century to the early 20th Century. For nearly 2,000 years, the salt industry has been closely connected with the development of Zigong City. It is no exaggeration to say that without salt, there would be no city of Zigong.

The well salt is made by extracting brine out of wells and boiling it down using special techniques. In China, well salt is mainly produced in Sichuan, and Zigong is the well salt production center of the province. Well salt production is a complex process, requiring well digging, brine extracting, brine transporting, and salt boiling. With elaborate divisions of labor and complex production processes, well salt production requires a high level of investment. Generally speaking, it takes two to five years, sometimes more than 10 years, to sink a single well.

Besides the industry itself, salt as a daily necessity is closely related to the life of Zigong people. There is a saying that goes: “Sichuan is a gourmet paradise.” Beef, rabbit, fish and tofu pudding are local specialties. The development of Zigong cuisine is bonded with the salt industry. In the past, oxen, as a major labor force used in the salt industry, did not live long. Thus, the employers in this trade often gave their workers beef. The workers boiled the beef in salted water and seasoned it with chili and Chinese prickly ash, and the dish, known as “Boiled Beef,” later became a classic of Sichuan cuisine.