Chongqing Fuling 816 Project | A top-secret project from the 1960s, excavating 20 kilometers of tunnels

"816" does not refer to a specific geographical location, but is the top-secret code name for the project. Since it started on August 16, 1967, it was named the 816 Project. This project was built to deal with the threat of nuclear war during the Cold War, and its main purpose was to produce and store plutonium-239, the raw material for making nuclear weapons. In the 1960s, more than 60,000 designers and engineers from all over the country gathered in the depths of Jinzi Mountain in Baitao Town, Fuling City, Sichuan Province, to build a secret underground base here. The 816 Project took 17 years to complete, and the entire mountain was almost hollowed out, forming a huge cave, and the excavated stone was as high as 1.5 million cubic meters. Later, this was called the "world's largest artificial cave" by everyone. Except for the towering chimneys on the top of the mountain, there are no traces of artificial excavation in the entire mountain. The 816 Project is located deep in the mountains of Fuling, Chongqing. It is located on the edge of the Sichuan Basin, and the mountain is solid and stable. The project consists of two main caves, 18 branch caves, and more than 130 sub-caves, with a total length of about 20 kilometers. Hall 104 is the largest cave in the 816 Project, with a height of 79.6 meters, a total of 9 floors up and down, forming a structure of a building in the cave. The entire cave is cast from reinforced concrete, very solid, and can completely withstand the ground attack of a 5000-ton atomic bomb, and even an 8 to 10 magnitude earthquake cannot destroy it. In 1984, the construction of the 816 nuclear project cave was 85% complete, and the installation project had reached 65%. Considering the international and domestic situation at the time, the focus of the country's work shifted to economic construction, and the 816 project was halted, and it was never officially put into production. The 816 Underground Nuclear Project is one of a series of major construction projects carried out by China to maintain national security and sovereignty and realize the process of nuclear weapon autonomy. These projects reflect the firm belief and selfless dedication of the Chinese people in a specific historical period. 📍Detailed address: 816 Project: Baitao Street, Fuling District, Chongqing City Ticket: 55 yuan/person