Wanshan District is located in the eastern part of Tongren City, Guizhou Province, bordering Hunan Province, and serves as the main urban area of Tongren City. With a land area of 842 square kilometres, it administers 11 towns (sub-districts) and has a total population of 205,700, comprising 36 ethnic groups including Han, Miao, Dong, and Tujia. It is a National Hygiene City, National Forest City, National Model County for Rural Innovation and Entrepreneurship, National Comprehensive Agricultural Development County, National Key County for Leisure Agriculture, and National Demonstration Base for Small and Micro Enterprise Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Wanshan is the birthplace of Guizhou's industrial civilisation. During the Qin and Han dynasties, Wanshan was already renowned for its abundant production of cinnabar and mercury. In the early Ming Dynasty, the imperial court established a cinnabar mining bureau in Wanshan, marking the beginning of large-scale cinnabar extraction. The ‘Sand Pit War,’ which erupted over the争夺 of Wanshan's cinnabar resources, catalysed Guizhou's transition from feudal rule to imperial administration and the establishment of a provincial government. During the late Qing Dynasty, the Anglo-French Mercury Company entered Wanshan to mine cinnabar. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Wanshan took the lead in launching modern industrial development, establishing the largest and most technologically advanced mercury mining and smelting base. The remaining mine shaft sites, related production facilities, mining communities, and mining techniques constitute the largest and most complete mercury industrial heritage site preserved in China today. Wanshan presented the ‘Wanbaoshan,’ a cinnabar gemstone creation, as a tribute to the 10th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, which has been on display in the East Hall of the Great Hall of the People. The ‘Cinnabar King’ mined in Wanshan is the largest cinnabar crystal in China's mining history and is currently housed in the Beijing Geological Museum. It served as the prototype for the cinnabar featured in China's first set of mineral stamps issued in 1982. Over three millennia of cinnabar mining have accumulated a rich and profound industrial civilisation, embodying the historical and cultural value of Chinese civilisation.

Wanshan is a microcosm of the arduous entrepreneurial spirit in the history of New China's construction. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the state undertook large-scale development of mercury mines, and Wanshan became the largest mercury industrial production base in the country. Especially from 1958 to 1962, during the most difficult period of China's economy, the cadres and workers of Wanshan坚持 prioritising national and public interests, adhering to the spirit of "working tirelessly within eight hours, contribute outside of work hours,‘ achieving the miracle of five consecutive years as the world's top mercury producer, contributing 15.62% of the national foreign exchange reserves during the same period, and bearing half of China's debt repayment to the Soviet Union. Premier Zhou Enlai affectionately referred to it as ’patriotic mercury." From 1950 to 2000, the development history of Wanshan Mercury Mine exemplifies a spirit of self-reliance and arduous struggle, embodying a selfless dedication to the nation and the greater good.

Wanshan is an ideal location for investment and business development. As the eastern gateway of Guizhou Province, it serves as a strategic hub for the province's eastern opening-up initiatives. It is adjacent to the Tongren Phoenix Airport and the Hunan Zhi Jiang Airport, with the Shanghai-Kunming High-Speed Railway, the Xiang-Qian Railway, the Zhu-Liu Double Track, and the Yu-Huang Double Track surrounding it. The Tong-Yu Intercity High-Speed Railway and the Shanghai-Kunming, Hangzhou-Ruili, and Tong-Da highways traverse the area, forming a 1-hour aviation circle, a 2-hour high-speed railway circle, and a 3-hour highway circle with surrounding major cities. Wanshan is the only city in Guizhou Province to benefit from national policies supporting resource-depleted regions. The provincial and municipal governments have issued two special support documents. Wanshan has preliminarily identified over 20 types of minerals, including mercury, potassium, and manganese, with estimated reserves of 5 billion tonnes of potassium ore. Wanshan boasts a superior location, overlapping policies, and abundant resources, making it an open, inclusive, pragmatic, and innovative city—a prime destination for investment and business development.

Wanshan is a pilot city for the transformation and development of resource-based cities. It has deeply implemented the ‘Industrial Strengthening District’ project, establishing the largest national centre for cinnabar craft processing and distribution. It houses the only national-level mercury waste regional disposal centre in China, the only provincial-level chemical industrial park in Tongren, and rapidly developing new industries centred on new energy and new materials. It is home to the only big data vocational college in the province, has established a big data industrial park, and has become a provincial-level demonstration zone for the innovative development of platform economy. It has attracted a number of educational brands such as Changsha Yali and Chengdu Tianli. The Tongren Commercial Consumption Centre is being accelerated, and the Consumer Finance City is taking shape. Wanshan Pomelo has won the top prize in the ‘Taste of China’ brand ranking. It has created China's first mountain industrial civilisation-themed mining leisure and nostalgia town—Zhusha Ancient Town, which has been designated as a national industrial heritage site, a national industrial tourism demonstration base, and a provincial-level tourist resort.

In recent years, Wanshan District has thoroughly implemented the important instructions and directives of President Xi Jinping on the work of Guizhou, Tongren, and Wanshan, closely following the deployment requirements of the Provincial Party Committee and Municipal Party Committee. It has resolutely implemented the development strategy of ‘industrial transformation in place and urban transformation elsewhere,’ maintaining a positive momentum of sustained and healthy economic development, continuous improvement of people's livelihood, and social stability. In 2024, the district achieved a regional gross domestic product (GDP) of 9.681 billion yuan, a total fiscal revenue of 951 million yuan, and per capita disposable income of 42,520 yuan and 15,362 yuan for urban and rural residents, respectively.

Currently, Wanshan is deeply implementing the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the second and third plenary sessions of the 20th Central Committee, as well as the important instructions and directives of President Xi Jinping. It is adhering to high-quality development as the overarching principle, seizing policy opportunities, leveraging comparative advantages, actively cultivating and expanding successor industries such as new materials, big data, and cultural tourism, accelerating the formation of new development momentum, and promoting transformative development, sustainable development, and high-quality development. It is striving to create a national demonstration zone for sustainable development in resource-based regions.

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