The 816 Engineering Scenic Area is located in Baotao Street, Fuling District, Chongqing City. It is a nuclear material production base deployed in a mountain cave, independently designed and constructed by New China under the top-secret codename ‘816’. Approved for construction by the Central Military Commission in 1966, its full name is ‘Third Front Construction – Underground Atomic Energy Reactor and Chemical Post-Processing Project’.
It stands as a typical representative among the more than 1100 projects of New China’s ‘Third Front Construction’. At that time, more than 60,000 construction workers from across the country were mobilized to Baotao, commencing an 18-year-long engineering project. The project went through three phases: urgent construction, slow construction, and suspension, with a total excavated area of 104,000 square meters. The cave is composed of 18 large caves and over 130 smaller tunnels, branches, and vertical shafts. The main cave chamber reaches a height of 79.6 meters. By 1984, 85% of the construction work and approximately 60% of the installation work were completed, with a total investment of 746 million yuan (in the prices of that time). Due to the complexity and arduousness of its design and construction, it is known as the ‘Three Gorges in the Cave, the Great Wall Underground’, and the ‘He Shi Bi Buried Deep in the Mountains’, and possesses the magical, mysterious, and sacred characteristics of ‘three divines’. The CCTV ‘Go to the Grassroots’ special report ‘Remember’ was filmed at the 102 component storage pool, which covers an area of 1326 square meters. Its main function is to receive components and non-working blocks unloaded from the reactor, as well as the storage and classification of non-working blocks. The 102 workshop is divided into two parts: the operating room and the pool area. Each pool is equipped with water gates (a total of 9) for the rotation of water filling and draining. The entire pool area is equipped with 400 bucket positions with rods for the long-term storage of components and non-working blocks. After one year of storage, the components are sent to Factory 818 through a dedicated underwater passage. The No. 8 annular corridor is located in the post-processing area of the entire project. Its massive scale, magnificent surroundings, and beautifully lit caves perfectly outline the grandeur and magnificence of the cave chambers. A visit to this site to explore the mysteries and magic of the original ecological caves is highly recommended. The reactor bottom is located on the third floor of the main reactor. Above the bottom, the pipe galleries are densely packed and spectacular. The construction of the glass corridor provides visitors with a better way to experience the area, allowing them to quietly stroll around the bottom and overlook the nuclear light. The central control room is located on the ninth floor of the reactor. It once housed the advanced computer bodies of that time and was the ‘heart’ of the entire military cave complex, serving as the central hub for coordinating the entire nuclear fuel manufacturing process. The 104 nuclear power plant building, standing at 31.2 meters high and 25 meters wide, is a dual-purpose reactor for both production and power generation. Following the principle of ‘prioritizing nuclear production and secondary power generation, production before power’, it utilizes its nuclear waste heat for power generation. The entire text is open from August 1st to December 31st, 09:00-17:00; from July 16th to July 31st, 09:00-21:00.From June 16th to July 31st, new night shows with preferential policies. For children: Those under 6 years old (inclusive) or under 1.2 meters in height (inclusive) are free. For those aged from 6 years old (exclusive) to 18 years old (inclusive), holding valid certificates such as ID cards (children entering from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan can use their passes), it’s half price. For the elderly: Those aged 65 years old (inclusive) or above can enter for free with the ‘Chongqing Senior Citizen Preferential Certificate’ or their ID cards.
Those aged from 60 years old (exclusive) to 64 years old (inclusive) can enter at half price with the ‘Chongqing Senior Citizen Preferential Certificate’ or their ID cards. For students: Full-time undergraduates and students below undergraduate level can enter at half price with their student ID cards (students entering from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan can use their passes or student ID cards and other valid certificates). For the disabled: The disabled can enter for free with valid certificates. For military personnel: Active-duty soldiers, revolutionary disabled soldiers, and retired cadres of the military can enter for free with valid certificates.
