Underground Project 131

Underground Project 131 is a system of tunnels in 's Hubei province constructed in the late 1960s and the early 1970s to accommodate the command headquarters in case of a nuclear war. The facility was never fully completed or used, and is currently open to visitors as a tourist attraction.

Location

The Project 131 site is located in the Gaoqiao Township of the Xian'an District of the Xianning prefecture-level city in Hubei Province.

It is about 15 km east of Xianning urban area, and 80 km south of central Wuhan.

History

With the increase of tensions in the late 1960s, the Chinese leaders deemed it prudent to construct a number of underground facilities to protect the country's population, military, as well as its command and control bodies, in case of a nuclear conflict. The best known of these facilities is Beijing's .

On January 31, 1969, a decision was made to construct an underground command headquarters for the country's military; the codename "131" for the project stems from this date . The PLA Chief of Staff, General Huang Yongsheng himself was in charge of the construction.

Present state

In 1981, the Project 131 site was turned over to the civilian authorities of the prefecture-level city of Xianning, where it is located. An upscale hotel and conference facility was created above the ground, while the tunnel system was turned into a tourist attraction. At present , the underground rooms were mostly bare, decorated with signs describing the purported use of each room, an occasional piece of period furniture, and a few maps dealing with China's military history. There are also some exhibits in the pavilions on the surface.

Huang Yongsheng's grave is also on the site.