A visit to the Shilongba Hydropower Station in Kunming, Yunnan, reveals a living monument to a hundred years of Chinese hydroelectric history. This facility, the nation's first of its kind, filled a critical void in domestic power generation and stands as a powerful symbol of self-reliance and determination in the nation's industrial development. Standing in the first workshop beside a German Siemens generator unit from a century ago, the rumble of machinery still resonates with strength across time, with this 114-year-old industrial heritage site still operating actively and writing a century-long saga of China's journey from follower to leader in the hydroelectric sector.

Construction on the Shilongba station began in August 1910, and it started generating power on May 28, 1912, with an initial installed capacity of 480 kilowatts. The project was initiated by Yunnan businessman Wang Xiaozhai, who recruited commercial investors to raise funds. Two 240-kilowatt generator units were imported from Siemens in Germany. During construction, over a thousand artisans traveled from five provinces to contribute. The endeavor required transporting dozens of tons of equipment via sea, rail, and waterways, with the final 7 kilometers of mountainous terrain taking more than 300 people and water buffalo, using rolling logs to drag the machinery, a grueling 40-day journey.

Three stone steles still stand on the station's grounds, embodying a historical commitment to transparency and accountability. One, inscribed with "Using and Verifying the Truth", details every project expense, down to the meals for workers, calculated to the smallest fraction. Another, "Merit and Names", commemorates the 116 engineers and master craftsmen involved, acting as a permanent, stone-carved system of responsibility for the work done.

From its role in the late Qing dynasty's industrial salvation movement to becoming a pillar of the electrical grid during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, the plant has witnessed the entire evolution of the industry. During the war, it operated as the nation's largest power company. Workers risked their lives to protect the generators during Japanese bombing raids, helping sustain Kunming's emergence as the country's second-largest industrial base. Today, while China's total installed hydropower capacity ranks first globally, the century-old units of the Shilongba plant continue to operate and generate electricity normally.

Recognized as a key national cultural relic protection site by the State Council in 2006 and added to China's Industrial Heritage Protection List in 2018, the station serves as a living textbook for the industry. It was designated a national model base for patriotic education in 2026 through the Shilongba Hydropower Museum. The visit was part of the "Visual New SOE: Wonders in Relics" campaign, an integral element of the "Seeing China in the Opening Year: Showcasing Assets, Spotlighting Heavyweights" multimedia project. This broader initiative is guided by the Cyberspace Administration of China, organized by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission's News Center and Global Times, and receives support from the China Internet Development Foundation's China Positive Energy Online Communication Special Fund.