Chongqing - In the bustling northern district of Shapingba, a silent industrial giant rests along the banks of the Jialing River. While the rest of Chongqing races toward a future defined by artificial intelligence and data, urban explorers like Zhang Hao look backward at the rusted remains of the Chongqing Special Steel Plant.
The Chongqing Special Steel Plant, once hailed as the "King of Southwest Steel," holds a storied place in China's modern history. Established at its current site in 1935, the plant served as a critical pillar for national defense and aerospace technology. During its "golden age" from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, it was a "ten-mile steel city." This self-contained social ecosystem featured its own hospitals, schools, cinemas, and sprawling residential blocks, housing a vibrant community of tens of thousands who lived and worked under the hum of industrial machinery.
Today, those halls are quiet, but for Zhang Hao, a civil engineering teacher and urban explorer, the silence is eloquent. "Capturing these places feels like traveling back decades in a single snapshot," Zhang says during his exploration of the ruins. For him, the void left by industry is a canvas for the mind. "What lies in that 'blank space' of time makes you imagine a lot."
As Zhang navigates the circular atriums and deep-set rooms, he points out architectural relics, such as the "transom windows"—small panes of glass above doors designed to let light into the deep, collective living quarters of the 1980s. "These old places, full of memory and history, are like 'bugs' in our city," he explains. "I want to explore what lies behind these bugs and discover other possibilities."
Local residents, who lived through the factory's peak, share this deep emotional connection. Wu Hongdong, a former resident whose life revolved around the factory's Workers' Union, recalls a time of immense vitality. The 1980s were the prime of this place. There were tens of thousands of people here. Every New Year, even in the coldest weather, there were garden fairs and celebrations. They were so much fun."
As the city looks toward the future, the fate of this industrial giant has taken a hopeful turn. In 2023, the Chongqing Special Steel Plant was officially selected for the first phase of the city‘s urban renewal project. The plan aims to blend the original industrial site with its deep local history, transforming the "King of Steel" into a new cultural landmark for Chongqing.