In 1752, Yunnan Governor Cui Yingjie petitioned the imperial court to expand coin production, utilizing the region's rich copper deposits. The resulting Baoyun New Mint Bureau, built at Courtyard 42 on Lingbi Road, became a cornerstone of the Qing Empire's monetary system. Sited south and facing north, the symmetrical complex originally spanned 8,600 square meters and contained over 300 rooms.

Visitors entering the compound walked past a screen wall, through the main gate, and under the ceremonial gate. Inside, the air carried the scent of burning charcoal and the sharp tang of molten metal. Fifty furnaces roared day and night. Blacksmiths shaped iron tools, carpenters built casting frames, and laborers hauled heavy materials. Massive warehouses stored raw copper and lead, alongside finished coins. Nearby, inspectors, coin transport officials, and military garrison commanders managed the daily operations from dedicated quarters, while scholars worked in the quiet study.

During the mid-Jiaqing reign, the emperor bestowed the character Dong upon the local facilities, renaming them the Baodong Mint Bureau. These operations sustained the empire's economy, producing hundreds of thousands of strings of copper coins annually.

Today, visitors can walk through the original main gate and ceremonial gate, stand inside the cool stone walls of the copper, lead, and coin warehouses, and visit the quiet study. These structures evoke the physical reality of ancient metallurgy—the heavy thud of 32.6-kilogram lead ingots, the heat of the casting floor, and the administrative precision required to fuel an empire's economy. The Baoyun New Mint Bureau stand as a quiet monument to Huize's history as the copper capital of the Qing Dynasty.