Opening of Zigong Huanhou Palace to the Public

Zigong Huanhou Palace, also known as Zhang Fei Temple or Zhang Ye Temple, is located at the intersection of Zhonghua Road, Longfengshan Community, Xinjie Sub-district, Ziliujing District. Established during the reign of Emperor Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty, it is a guild hall with an area of about 1,240 square metres and a construction area of about 560 square metres. It used to be the butcher's guild hall. It is a representative building in Zigong Guild Hall and an important cultural and historical site in Zigong UNESCO Global Geopark. In 1985, Zigong Huanhou Palace was selected as a cultural relics protection unit of Zigong. In 2013, due to its exceptional artistic and historical research value, Zigong Huanhou Palace was successfully included in the seventh batch of national key cultural relics protection units after the application period of only one year. In 2021, the renovation project of Zigong Huanhou Palace was launched.

On 15 December, Zigong Huanhou Palace attracted the first batch of tourists through free reservations, showcasing its brand-new appearance. A group of 39 students from the School of Fine Arts of Sichuan University of Science & Engineering and over 10 ordinary citizens visited the palace. They marveled at the exquisite architecture of Zigong Huanhou Palace and developed a strong interest in its long history. To promote the protection and utilisation of cultural relics more effectively, the Ziliujing District Cultural Heritage Administration is carefully planning for the exhibition and utilisation of Zigong Huanhou Palace. It plans to build Zigong Huanhou Palace into a museum of guilds in Zigong's salt industry to fully demonstrate the formation and development of various ancient industry guilds that emerged in Zigong due to well salt production and tell more stories about well salt to the general public.