Searching for Industrial Heritage｜The only remaining industrial heritage in Changqing City—Changqing Steel Window Factory

Reporter Guo Xuejun

I have always believed that the industrial heritage in Changqing District, Jinan has long been completely demolished during urban renewal. Unexpectedly, at No. 2546 Qinghe Street, Changqing District, a rare industrial heritage—Changqing Steel Window Factory—is still intact. Here, not only the gate of the old factory has been preserved, but the red brick workshop buildings, old machinery and equipment, old chimneys, old water towers, as well as old office buildings, old residential buildings, old bungalow dormitories, etc. in the factory area all maintain a historical style full of vicissitudes of life. , it is really precious that it can be basically preserved completely.

The company originated from the \”Iron Industry Society\” in 1958

Exploring the history of Changqing Steel Window Factory can be traced back to the 1958 The era of people\’s communes. At that time, in order to develop industrial and agricultural production, the whole country was self-reliant and vigorously established the \”Iron Industry Society\”, and the \”Changqing Iron Industry Society\” came into being. At the beginning, \”Changqing Iron Industry Co., Ltd.\” mainly manufactured some handmade farm tools and also repaired a small amount of agricultural machinery. In 1962, \”Changqing Iron Industry Co., Ltd.\” was changed to \”Changqing County Agricultural Machinery Repair Factory\” and began to engage in the manufacturing and maintenance of agricultural machinery and mining machinery. Around 1970, the company was renamed \”Changqing Agricultural Machinery Parts Factory\”, also commonly known as \”Changqing Light Industrial Machinery Factory\”, mainly producing agricultural machinery parts. Around 1985, the company was renamed \”Changqing Steel Window Factory\”, which continues to this day.

In the current old factory area, most of the workshops and factories are red brick buildings built in the 1960s and 1970s, and most of the preserved machinery and equipment are Some of the old machine tools from the 1970s and 1980s are still in use, while others have been discarded and stacked in open spaces outdoors.

The southernmost workshop of the old factory It has been rented out. On the north side is a bungalow boiler room. On the outside, there is a tall red brick chimney, about 30 meters high. It was once one of the tallest buildings in Changqing City in the 1960s and 1970s. . In the adjacent workshop to the north, there are still some old equipment from the 1960s and 1970s, and most of them are still in use in the open space on the north side of the old workshop. On the floor, there are piles of old machines and equipment that have been eliminated. They were all cleared from the original military repair workshop near the company\’s gate. Now this former military repair workshop has become a warehouse for rented units. Most of these old machines and equipment are piled up. It\’s from the 1970s, and some of the equipment has metal signs with the words \”Military Equipment\” engraved on it.

Life on the west side of the factory areaIn the area, the well-preserved old water tower was built around 1959 and was there at the beginning of the factory. It is the earliest existing building of the Changqing Steel Window Factory. The bottom of the water tower is made of stone, and the top is made of red bricks. It is very strong and beautiful. The rows of old bungalows next to the water tower are also built with stone foundations and red bricks. Most of them were built in the 1960s and 1970s.

On the north side of the bungalow area, there are three old-fashioned residential buildings. Along the street at the northernmost end is a tube building built in 1974, where old employees still live. The southernmost one is a unit building built in 1978, with a small apartment with an area of ​​356 square meters or 478 square meters. The unit building in the middle was built in the early 1980s. The unit size is more than 60 square meters, which is slightly larger than the area of ​​the unit building on the south side. Under the two unit buildings, a row of bungalow storage rooms are built respectively, still retaining the historical style of the 1970s and 1980s.

Once built a military industrial workshop to produce anti-tank mines

Why is there a military industry workshop in Changqing Steel Window Factory? This traces back to a period of red military industry history of the company. In the 1960s and 1970s, it was the time when my country During the period of comprehensive national defense economic construction for the purpose of combat readiness, around 1974, Changqing County was still under the jurisdiction of Tai\’an Prefecture, and the company then named Changqing Agricultural Machinery Parts Factory received the project approval of the third-line military industry construction project. The three concepts of \”backing, concealment, and dispersion\” In line with the principle of military industry, the military industry production workshop was built on the slope of Yuhuang Mountain in Dongpu Village, east of Changqing City (east of today\’s Yindong Ecological Park). The entire military industry workshop was very large, covering an area of ​​nearly 390 acres, far exceeding the current size. The area of ​​​​the old factory area where the Changqing Steel Window Factory is located. The workshop was built in 1976, and then began to purchase and install production equipment. At that time, the factory had more than 300 sets of equipment and 6 production lines. In 1978, it first produced Type 68 anti-tank mines, and soon changed to the production of Type 72 anti-tank mines. /p>

Type 72 anti-tank mines are divided into Type 72 metal-cased anti-tank mines and Type 72 plastic-cased anti-tank mines. Changqing Agricultural Machinery Parts Factory produces Type 72 metal-cased anti-tank mines. This model The mine uses steel disc springs as the pressing mechanism. Mainly used against tracked vehicles, it has multiple explosion-resistant designs and the mine shell is sealed, so it can be buried within a depth of 1.2 meters. The Type 72 metal shell anti-tank mine is a mine used to damage or destroy vehicles such as tanks and armored personnel carriers. . Compared to anti-personnel mines, anti-tank mines usually contain more explosives and have modified fuzes.Cause will only be triggered by vehicles.

Dong Qingkai, a 62-year-old employee who still stays in the old factory, said that the military workshop was built in 1976 and it took a year to build. Much time. In 1979, the Type 72 metal shell anti-tank mine produced was used on the front lines of the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam. In 1980, military production was suspended.

Now, this military production factory area built on the hillside has been abandoned , the entire military factory area is covered with vegetation and thorns. The equipment in the workshop has long been demolished, leaving only the various empty factory buildings that are mostly preserved. The stone walls around the factory area, which are about 4 meters high, are relatively complete. The land is preserved, which is quite spectacular if no one is around. Introduction, no one would know that this was once a large-scale military production workshop.

When the company was at its peak, people were rushing to recruit workers.

In 1980, After the company stopped military production, it began to shift to civilian use in 1981. New product development, the main product is \”free-web steel windows\”. At that time, the \”free-web steel windows\” produced by Changqing Agricultural Machinery Parts Factory were very popular in the market, and the supply exceeded the demand, and the company\’s profitability was also very good. Around 1985, the company was renamed. Changqing Steel Window Factory

It is understood that hollow steel windows were first introduced to China from the United Kingdom in 1911 and were only used in some consulates and concessions at first. Until the reform and opening up, hollow steel windows Windows are gradually entering people\’s homes. As the first company in Jinan to produce \”free-web steel windows\”, Changqing Steel Window Factory should be said to have seized a good market opportunity in the early days of reform and opening up.

“The period from 1985 to 1988 was the period of best profitability for our enterprise. \”Zhang Lijie, 71 years old, who once served as the equipment section chief, labor union chairman, and deputy factory director of Changqing Steel Window Factory, said that when the company\’s profitability was at its best, it was very popular in Changqing! Once the company recruited workers, many people competed for it. Coming here, some people would rather give up the opportunity to work in government agencies and come to Changqing Steel Window Factory. He himself was transferred from another unit.

According to the \”Changqing County Chronicle\” published by Jinan Publishing House in 1992, In 1985, the total industrial output value of Changqing Steel Window Factory was 37.26 million yuan, with 349 employees and total profits and taxes of 2.75 million yuan. At that time, it mainly produced metal doors, windows and grilles.

\”In addition to its main product, hollow steel. Windows, our factory also produced many other products during that period. For example, except for the tires, we have produced all the accessories for sidecar three-wheeled motorcycles, mainly supplying them to a company in Tai\’an. \”Zhang Lijie said that in 1988, Changqing Steel Window Factory almost cooperated with the then Nanjing Aviation Institute to produce Bee helicopters. The drawings were obtained, but unfortunately the cooperation did not succeed in the end. In addition, the company also produced plastic ointment and 3000 Purpose silica and other products. Plastic ointment is a new elastic-plastic waterproof material, suitable for building roof waterproofing and building caulking. Good waterproof performance. Silica is an indispensable additive for industrial production such as rubber, plastics, papermaking, paints, coatings and inks. These two products won the third prize for provincial outstanding scientific and technological products and passed the municipal appraisal at that time. They were very popular in the market. However, as the cost of the products gradually increased, their market competitiveness gradually declined, and production was finally stopped.

In 1989, Changqing Steel Window Factory began to produce solid web steel windows. As the name suggests, solid web steel windows are doors and windows that use solid web steel profiles as outer frames and fan frames, which are more beautiful and stronger.

Shao Gongjun, the current person in charge of the Changqing Steel Window Factory, said that the Changqing Steel Window Factory also produced special-shaped pipes. This product was in short supply at that time and was a hot commodity in the market. Later, with the aluminum With the rise of alloy doors and windows and plastic steel doors and windows, solid web steel windows were gradually replaced in the market. In 1996, the company began to switch to the production of aluminum alloy doors and windows. Plastic steel doors and windows, however, due to the increase in management costs, the products were at a disadvantage in the production competition, and the company\’s efficiency became worse and worse. After 1997, in order to reduce product costs and increase product market competitiveness, the company implemented contract management of the production workshop. However, The company\’s business decline was still not restored. By 2003, the Changqing Steel Window Factory was forced to cease production and the workshops were leased to outside parties.

\”This old factory building in our factory is the only preserved industrial heritage in Changqing City. The rest of the old enterprises have been demolished. \”Shao Gongjun said that although the Changqing Steel Window Factory has stopped production, it is still registering for business licenses normally, and more than 50 employees stay in the factory to handle related business. They hope that this industrial heritage that has witnessed the history of Changqing\’s industrial development can be be better utilized so that more citizens can find what they want in their hearts Industrial memory.

The spirit of hard work cannot be forgotten

Although Changqing Steel Window Factory has been out of production for many years, it still reminds us of the self-reliance and hard work of the enterprise. Many old workers still cherish these stories.

They are still living in the bungalow area. Liu Zhaofa, a 76-year-old retired employee, said that the bungalow dormitory where he lives was built in the 1960s and 1970s. Most of these houses were built by company employees who used their spare time to pull stones and bricks from the mountains. After the tiles were built, the four workers lived in one room because there were no houses at that time. If there is cement, use lime mixed with sand as concrete to fill the walls. Not to mention, the bungalows built in this way are quite strong and durable. Most of these bungalows are still occupied by people, mostly elderly people, and most of the bungalows have cracked walls. There is no problem, but the roof has been leaking for a long time, so most of them have been replaced with new roofs.

In an old workshop, old man Zhang Lijie pointed to the wooden beams on the roof and said: \”Look, when the workshop was built, the wooden beams were not long enough. They were all our employees. The two wooden beams were connected together with steel plates, and they are still very strong after all these years! \”In fact, not only the beam frame of the workshop is like this, but also a gantry planer from the 1970s that is still in use in the workshop. It is not a directly purchased product, but an accessory purchased from Jinan Machine Tool No. 2 Factory. The workers in the factory assembled it themselves.

\”In the early days of the factory, it was full of enthusiasm for hard work. In order to save costs, the employees did all the work they could do themselves. , don’t wait and don’t rely on it. \”Shao Gongjun said that it is a pity and regret that the company has stopped production now, but they cannot forget the glorious history the company once created and the hard-working spirit of the employees back then.