Yumen City Culture

Yumen (玉门市), a county-level city administered by Jiuquan in western Gansu, occupies an important section of the Hexi Corridor where prehistoric settlement, Silk Road exchange, frontier culture and modern industrial history overlap. Its cultural identity is especially unusual: few places in China combine a Bronze Age archaeological site, ancient grottoes and Han Great Wall remains with the birthplace of Wang Jinxi (王进喜) and the industrial heritage of one of China’s earliest modern oilfields.

The name “Yumen” inevitably recalls the Tang poem line “The spring wind does not cross Yumen Pass.” Travellers should note, however, that the famous ancient Yumen Pass (玉门关) archaeological site is located near Dunhuang, not within present-day Yumen City. Modern Yumen has its own extensive Silk Road heritage, including Han Great Wall remains, the Huoshaogou Site, Changma Grottoes and other archaeological landscapes.

Cultural Heritage of Yumen at a Glance

From Huoshaogou to the Oilfields: Yumen’s Cultural Development

Prehistoric Civilization and the Huoshaogou Site

The Huoshaogou Site (火烧沟遗址) in Qingquan Township is one of Yumen’s most important archaeological treasures and a representative site of the Bronze Age Siba Culture (四坝文化). Dating to roughly 3,800 years ago, it preserves evidence of farming, livestock raising, pottery production, metallurgy and complex burial customs in the western Hexi Corridor. The site was designated a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level in 2006.

Among its most distinctive discoveries are ceramic xun wind instruments. More than 20 examples were reportedly unearthed, including several relatively complete instruments. The celebrated fish-shaped three-hole xun demonstrates an unexpectedly sophisticated stage in the development of ancient musical instruments and provides the historical inspiration for today’s Yumen ceramic xun craftsmanship.

Huoshaogou is therefore more than an archaeological attraction. It provides evidence that communities living in the western Hexi Corridor almost four millennia ago were already combining agriculture, pastoralism, craft production, music and long-distance cultural interaction.

Silk Road, Great Wall and Frontier Culture

Yumen later became part of the long cultural corridor linking central China with Dunhuang, the Western Regions and Central Asia. Han Great Wall sections, beacon towers, ancient roads and settlement remains survive in its Gobi landscapes. Provincial planning now includes Yumen’s Huoshaogou archaeological research and Great Wall heritage within the broader strategy to develop a Hexi Corridor National Heritage Route.

Before Han imperial expansion, the wider region was inhabited or traversed at different periods by Qiang, Yuezhi, Xiongnu and other groups. Later centuries brought further interaction involving Xianbei, Turkic, Mongol and Han communities. Yumen’s frontier identity is therefore best understood as a history of repeated movement and cultural exchange rather than as the heritage of a single population.

Changma Grottoes and Buddhist Art

Changma Grottoes (昌马石窟) lie in the southern part of Yumen near the Qilian Mountains. The surviving caves span periods from the Northern Wei through the Qing dynasty, demonstrating the long history of Buddhist cave art along this branch of the Hexi Corridor. In 2019, Changma Grottoes were included in China’s eighth batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level.

The grottoes are particularly valuable because they extend the better-known cave-art geography of western Gansu beyond Dunhuang, Guazhou and the central Hexi Corridor. Yumen also preserves smaller cave and rock-art sites, creating a broader religious and frontier cultural landscape around Changma.

Changma is relatively remote and cultural-relic protection takes priority over tourism. Individual caves may not follow fixed daily visitor schedules, so access should be confirmed before departure rather than assumed.

Petroleum Heritage and the Iron Man Spirit

Yumen: Cradle of China’s Modern Petroleum Industry

Modern Yumen was transformed by petroleum. Yumen Oilfield, developed beginning in 1939, became the foundation of China’s modern petroleum industry and is widely described as the “cradle of China’s petroleum industry.” Between 1939 and 1949, Yumen produced the overwhelming majority of China’s domestic crude oil, and after 1949 its workers and technical personnel were transferred to newly developing oilfields across the country.

Yumen Oilfield Old Well No. 1 (玉门油田老一井), drilled in 1939 at Laojunmiao, marks the beginning of large-scale petroleum development in the area. It was included in the seventh group of national-level protected cultural sites and remains one of China’s most significant petroleum-industrial heritage monuments.

The wider oilfield heritage landscape contains Laojunmiao Oil Mine, the former Yumen refinery, workers’ cave dwellings, historic drilling facilities and the oilfield history exhibition hall. In 2025, these sites were again used for a national petroleum-industrial heritage study program, illustrating their continuing role in industrial-history education.

Wang Jinxi and Chijin

Wang Jinxi, one of the most famous workers in modern Chinese industrial history, was born in the Chijin area of Yumen in 1923. He entered the Yumen oilfield workforce in 1950, developed his drilling skills here and later led a drilling team to support the development of Daqing Oilfield. His work became associated with the nationally recognized Iron Man Spirit, emphasizing patriotism, perseverance, practical innovation and dedication.

Today, Chijin Town (赤金镇) preserves Wang Jinxi’s birthplace heritage through the Iron Man hometown cultural area, exhibitions and rural study-tour experiences. The theme is particularly suitable for industrial-history, education and modern-China study groups.

Intangible Cultural Heritage of Yumen

Yumen has developed provincial, Jiuquan municipal and county-level intangible cultural heritage inventories. A recent 2026 report records 70 intangible heritage projects across the three levels, while earlier cultural-sector reporting recorded 56 representative inheritors. Heritage categories include traditional music, crafts, food, folk customs, medicine and visual arts.

Representative Intangible Heritage

The best documented project is Yumen Ceramic Xun-Making (玉门陶埙制作技艺), which was added to Gansu’s fourth provincial intangible heritage list in 2017. The craft uses local red clay and involves soil preparation, kneading, shaping, decoration, drying and firing. Today it is demonstrated in cultural workshops, schools and study-tour programs.

Yumen has also incorporated intangible heritage into tourism spaces. Ceramic craft experiences are available through cultural institutions and Huoshaogou-themed facilities, while Qingquan promotes lamb-food craftsmanship and Liuhe has developed experiences related to traditional sand bathing.

Chinese Traditional Villages in Yumen

Yumen has five villages included in the sixth batch of China’s Traditional Villages list, making traditional rural culture an important complement to its industrial and archaeological heritage.

Tieren Village is particularly unusual because its traditional-village identity is closely connected with twentieth-century industrial memory. Exhibitions on Wang Jinxi, agricultural life and local history allow visitors to experience both village culture and the social environment that produced generations of petroleum workers.

Shuixia Village, by contrast, reflects the mountain environment of Changma and the northern Qilian foothills, while Dongqu and Zehu preserve the agricultural character of oasis Yumen.

Major Historical and Cultural Sites

Yumen’s official profile records 133 immovable cultural heritage sites, including four national-level protected properties, alongside important sections of the Han Great Wall heritage landscape.

The four nationally protected standalone sites commonly listed for modern Yumen are Huoshaogou, Shaguoliang, Old Well No. 1 and Changma Grottoes.

Dongxiang, Hui and Multiethnic Culture

Modern Yumen is home to multiple ethnic communities, with Xiaojinwan Dongxiang Ethnic Township (小金湾东乡族乡) and Dushanzi Dongxiang Ethnic Township (独山子东乡族乡) forming the clearest concentration of Dongxiang culture within the city. Both continue to be officially recognized as ethnic townships.

The cultural landscape includes Dongxiang and Hui food traditions, embroidery, folk songs, religious customs and family celebrations. Contemporary Yumen cultural programs emphasize shared intangible-heritage workshops in which residents of different ethnic backgrounds participate together in pottery, embroidery, paper cutting and other crafts. A 2026 municipal cultural report also highlights foods such as yangbola stir-fried lamb, decorative guokui bread, suoyang oil cakes and Qingquan lamb as everyday expressions of cultural interaction.

For visitors, Xiaojinwan and Dushanzi should be approached as living communities rather than staged ethnic attractions. Mosque visits, home visits, photography and participation in family or religious activities should be arranged respectfully and preferably with local coordination.