Jinhuagong National Mine Park locates 13 kilometers west of Datong, near the Yungang Grottoes. In 2000, the "Underground Secret Tour" project was established here, which is the first one in China and even in Asia. The park integrates the industrial site protection, environmental renewal, ecological restoration and environment protection together. It is a new leisure and tourism park, as well as a mining cultural park. It is the National 4A Class Scenic Spot.
What to see in the park
Jinhuagong National Mine Park sketches for 41 square kilometers. Currently it has 150 million tons of the recoverable mine reserve. It is an important coal mine in China with high-quality coals.
The main attractions in the park include the Coal Museum and the underground adventure tour.
The Coal Museum in the park is a large-scale mine museum, which integrates science, knowledge, excursion and leisure together. The treasure of the museum is a siliconized wood that has turned into the coal. The whole body of the wood is dark and the texture is clear to see. People can clearly see the scales and veins of the original plant on the wood.
People can also participate in the underground adventure tours. There, people can truly understand the historical knowledge of the coal, learn the true evolution process from primitive coal mining to modern coal mining, and experience the immersive underground life of the coal workers. Coals in the park form during the Jurassic Period nearly 140 million years ago.
People need to wear protective clothing such as a hard hat, gloves, overalls, boots and a flashlight, and take the lift down for 300 meters, to tour the tunnels and visit the mine's coal factory. Some of the tunnels meander two miles into the mountain. Some sections of the tunnel were collapsed because of the earthquake.
Inside the coalmines, there are some statues showing how the miners labored in the past with primitive tools. People can see the old equipment that the miners used to dig out the coal manually. People can also see the big modern facilities mechanically. How the coal is extracted and processed is also shown if taking the underground tour.