Gejiu Museum

At the foot of Laoyin Mountain, the west-facing Tin Capital Museum stands as a monument to three millennia of metallurgy. Established in November 1987, the museum originally welcomed visitors in 1995 within the historic Yunmiao Temple, a garden-style complex built in 1765 during the Qianlong Emperor's reign. In May 2010, the collection moved to this modern 4,642-square-meter facility, where the deep history of Yunnan's tin mining unfolds.

Inside the entrance, a massive red-brown relief wall, stretching twenty-four meters long and four meters high, commands the space. Designed by craft master Lai Qingguo, its textured surface traces the evolution of mining from ancient horse caravans to narrow-gauge railways. Nearby, rough mineral ores are arranged to spell the word "Tin," a tactile introduction to the city's identity.

On the second floor, the atmosphere shifts. Earth-colored walls embedded with replica pottery shards mimic an active archaeological dig. Here, the museum recreates the Heimajing M16 Han Dynasty tomb, discovered in Kafang Town. Among the treasures is the Bronze Peacock Lamp, a masterpiece of ancient engineering. The hollow body of the bronze bird acts as an environmental filter, drawing soot and smoke into its water-filled belly to keep the air clean. Beside it rest the rare Bronze Chengxuan plate, the loop-handled Bronze Tiliang Hu pot, and the detailed Bronze Three-branch Figurine Lamp.

These artifacts survived through the dedication of people like former director Tang Wenzhong, who spent decades conserving these discoveries. The museum also preserves modern struggles. It houses relics of the Ge-Bi-Shi Railway, China's first private narrow-gauge railway, and documents the emergency runway built in 1944 to trade tin for American gold. This runway connected Gejiu to the global war effort.