On the morning of August 14, after a rain, the summer heat gradually subsided. Wangjiang Memory Square in Bingcaogang Sub-district, Dong District, Panzhihua City, was bustling with people, who were taking photos with the green cartoon sculpture "Mailbox No.9".

In the early stage of Panzhihua's development and construction, to keep secrets, the industrial base planning working group decided that all construction units would use mailbox codes. "Mailbox No.9" was the code name for the Transportation Construction Command.

Sixty years later, "Mailbox No.9" has lifted its mysterious veil, appearing at its original site in a more approachable image, evoking deep-seated memories. This is also a vivid example of Dong District strengthening the protection of Third Front Construction cultural heritage, integrating historical and cultural protection and inheritance into urban renewal, and making historical and cultural relics "activated" and "landscaped".

Sixty years on, the once barren land has long "taken on a new look". Panzhihua is in the new historical stage of its "second spring", striding forward to build a city with the connotation of common prosperity and beauty through the in-depth integration of cultural tourism and health and wellness. As the central urban area, Dong District is following the requirement of "shaping tourism with culture and highlighting culture through tourism", aiming to accelerate the construction of the core bearing area of an international tourist city, build an "exquisite urban area", empower the transformation of urban areas into scenic spots, and polish the cultural tourism and health brand "Flower City Sweetheart · Happy Dong District".

Organic Renewal Preserves Nostalgic Memories

Strolling through Wangjiang Memory Square, the huge slogan "I Love Panzhihua" strikes the eye first. Retro scenes such as "stores" and "post pavilions" integrated with trendy designs have become "backdrops" for check-ins, and artistic colorful graffiti covers the roads and walls, creating a dazzling sight...

"Sixty years ago, as a member of the transportation construction team, I came to Panzhihua and lived near 'Mailbox No.9'. Seeing the once familiar mailbox, I feel particularly familiar and warm, and excited," said Fang Bingsheng, an elderly resident of Wangjiang Street Community, with joy.

As the first stop of Panzhihua's urban renewal, relevant departments in Dong District have dug deep into the city's historical heritage and built "Mailbox No.9" into a cultural tourism IP of the block. Through diverse forms such as giant wall paintings, street sculptures, and cultural and creative products, the symbols carrying urban memories "live" in the corners of the streets and lanes. New business forms such as "Shanchengshan Day Coffee & Night Liquor" and "Wangjiang Cloud Street" have been introduced and laid out, and projects such as music fairs and shared kitchens have been promoted, connecting the humanistic memories of the old block with the ecological background of Yinjiang Lake. This allows the city to "retain nostalgia and see the future", enabling the people in the district to truly feel the sense of gain and happiness brought by the improvement of urban quality.

This year, Dong District launched a three-year campaign for tackling key challenges in urban organic renewal, and the experience from the renewal achievements of Wangjiang Area, which took the lead in trials, is of great reference value.

Urban organic renewal is an important starting point for promoting high-quality development and accelerating the construction of the core bearing area of an international tourist city. Dong District will aim at "three-year campaign for tackling key challenges, a new look for the steel city", systematically plan the whole-life-cycle renewal path. It will not only strive to solve historical debts such as aging infrastructure and prominent safety hazards, but also prospectively lay out the cultivation of new business forms such as cultural tourism and health and wellness; it will not only promote high-standard careful planning, exquisite construction, meticulous management, precise services and smart growth, but also improve soft environments such as smart governance, laying a solid foundation for Panzhihua to accelerate the construction of the core bearing area of an international tourist city.

Idle Spaces Transformed into "Life Showgrounds"

"Come on, let's go to Zhuowu Garden for a cup of local new tea." Recently, Ms. Shu Zhengci, a national second-class tea artist, often sends invitations on her Moments.

Approaching Zhuowu Garden, a red wall comes into view, as if stepping into a wonderful space integrating Jiangnan charm and industrial atmosphere. In the yard, three towering trees block the heat; tie-dyed cloth hanging on one side flutters in the wind; tourists sitting in a row focus on experiencing tea making and frying processes; others sit around drinking tea and chatting, giving people a sense of "stealing half a day's leisure". This scene, though quite different from Panzhihua Research Institute just a wall away, complements it. On one side is intangible cultural heritage inheritance, on the other is scientific and technological innovation – "alternating tension and relaxation is the way", and the sense of leisure and the rigor of scientific research blend in this small space.

Zhuowu Garden is one of the new cultural landmarks built in Dong District. Through the model of "service for space" and "low-rent revitalization + cultural activity feedback", it has transformed a 1,240-square-meter idle site into an exquisite courtyard integrating cultural inheritance, community interaction, and industrial development, exploring a new path for activating idle assets with characteristic culture. According to the operator, since its opening on May 19 this year, Zhuowu Garden has held more than 30 cultural activities, receiving about 30,000 citizens and tourists, becoming a "life showground" for check-ins by citizens and tourists in the old urban area.

Walking on the streets of Dong District, one can see changing scenery at every step, with flowers blooming everywhere. In recent years, relevant departments, sub-districts, and communities in Dong District have taken the construction of "Flower City" projects as a starting point, made full use of corner plots and vacated idle resources, and exerted "embroidery-like efforts" to build more than 20 street green spaces and pocket parks. These have become accessible "poetry and distant places" at citizens' doorsteps, offering an immersive experience of harmony between humans and nature.

"Pleasing those nearby and attracting those far away." Next, Dong District will aim to accelerate the construction of an "exquisite urban area", focus on promoting the planting of characteristic flowers along the main road and other landscape axes, and build theme parks, flower streets, flower roads, street green spaces, and pocket parks. It will present the urban image of "a city of sunshine with half the city covered in flowers", making the city named after flowers more worthy of its name, and continuously meeting the inherent needs of the people for both material prosperity and spiritual richness in a "mutual pursuit".

Cultural Soul-Casting to Build "Flower City Sweetheart"

Looking back in time, a city set sail from here, a flower bloomed from here, and a kind of nostalgia grew from here.

The former site of "seven families and one tree" has long been identified as Panzhihua's "Urban Origin". Now, the infrastructure and industrial tourism integration construction project being built here is also highly anticipated by citizens. With the discovery of Panzhihua iron ore as the source of memory, the project perfectly integrates historical memory with modern aesthetics through artistic design techniques, making it a new landmark for citizens and tourists to relax and check in.

"Dong District, as the main battlefield of Panzhihua's 'Third Front Construction', carries the deepest industrial cultural memories of the city. The 'Urban Origin' is a living witness of the 'Third Front Spirit', reflecting the city's yesterday, today, and tomorrow," said a relevant person in charge of Dukou Group, which is responsible for the project construction. The project will create an immersive cultural experience space by deeply exploring the history of the steel city's development and its cultural connotations and innovating the layout of business forms.

"Shaping tourism with culture and highlighting culture through tourism." The construction of the Urban Origin project is a vivid practice of Dong District exploring a new path for the in-depth integration of cultural tourism and health and wellness development in the central urban area in accordance with the requirements of taking culture as the soul, tourism as the body, empowering with technology, and prioritizing protection.

In the process of promoting the in-depth integration of cultural tourism and health and wellness development, Dong District has deeply cultivated its natural ecological foundation, activated Third Front and folk culture, and made good use of core resources such as "mountains, seas, and lakes" and "Urban Origin". It aims to accelerate the construction of the core bearing area of an international tourist city, focusing on building a gathering place for Third Front Construction industrial tourism, a preferred destination for international sunshine health and wellness tourism, a demonstration site for the integrated development of "cultural tourism and health + various industries", and an experience site for performances, events, food, and fashion. It will build a "one district and four sites" pattern for the in-depth integration of cultural tourism and health and wellness development, and enhance the reputation of the cultural tourism and health brand "Flower City Sweetheart · Happy Dong District".

Panzhihua is a tree, a flowering tree. Panzhihua is a city, a flowering city. Its roots are connected to history, its branches show the present, and its flowers and leaves indicate the future. As Panzhihua promotes the in-depth integration of cultural tourism and health and wellness development, accelerates the construction of an international tourist city, and builds the cultural tourism and health brand "Sunny Flower and Fruit City, Healthy Panzhihua", such a "Flower City Sweetheart · Happy Dong District" is highly anticipated by many citizens and tourists. (Text by Liu Jing / Photos from file)