01 / The encounter

An encounter in Kaiyuan

For a moment, the curator’s claim seemed convincing, even scandalous.

My story began differently. I arrived in Honghe Prefecture expecting to study other questions concerning local industrialization and urban life. In Kaiyuan, I learned by accident that a local private collector had mounted an exhibition on the railway.

Kaiyuan

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Inside, however, was a huge collection of maps, timetables, tickets, letters, postcards, photographs, cameras, tools, signs, building materials, and pieces of railway equipment. I expected him to introduce the objects and discuss Kaiyuan’s railway history. Yet almost as soon as I mentioned Bisezhai, he challenged the premise of my question.

“They made up history just to make money.”
Private railway curator, interview by author in Kaiyuan, 2026

Then he pointed to the map again, this time at Kaiyuan Station, and began listing the railway institutions once located there: the railway police headquarters, locomotive depot, train depot, track maintenance depot, hospitals, schools, hotels, and offices.

On the map beside the curator, Kaiyuan stood near the middle of the Chinese section of the railway. From Kaiyuan, he explained, French institutions coordinated technical work across a much larger area.

Freight wagons at the old Kaiyuan station during the author's fieldwork — Freight wagons at the old Kaiyuan station. Author's field photograph, 2026.

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Four contemporary views

Bisezhai in photographs

Bisezhai station sign beside rust-colored water towers and a railway track — Station sign, water towers, and track.

Railway tracks leading toward the Bisezhai station buildings — Tracks leading toward the station.

Contemporary sculptural installation depicting trains and a railway route at Bisezhai — Railway-themed display in the heritage park.

A wall-mounted Paul Garnier clock marked Paris outside a yellow station building at Bisezhai — A station clock marked “Paris.”

Four contemporary Bisezhai images supplied by the researcher. Their original photographers and dates are unverified.

Mengzi

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Gejiu

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The exhibition in public view

What the city’s museum profile makes visible

A 2024 profile by the Kaiyuan Culture and Tourism Bureau describes the railway exhibition’s maps, timetables, tickets, photographs, letters, tools and model station. It shows the work of gathering objects into a public account. The profile does not document this interview or settle the curator’s criticism of Bisezhai.

A change in the question

My research focus thus shifted from “Which account is true?” to “How does one account become true enough to organize museums, government reports, films, and tourism promotion while the other is completely ignored?”

Next: test the records