Panzhihua (Chinese: 攀枝花; pinyin: Pānzhīhuā), formerly Dukou (渡口), is a prefecture-level city located in the far south of Sichuan province, China, at the confluence of the Jinsha and Yalong Rivers.

[5]: 4, 145  Mao viewed the building of the city as so important that he repeatedly told other party leadership that until it was built he would "not sleep well a single day.

[5]: 170 Meeting with Panzhihua leaders in October 1964, Bo Yibo emphasized that while it was critical to increase production in the area, doing so had to avoid the mistakes of the Great Leap Forward, a time when the emphasis on industrial production resulted in many people lacking "grain to eat.

"[5]: 165 In an effort to avoid what Chinese policymakers viewed as a mistake of Soviet-style industrialization, the builders of Panzhihua were tasked with constructing in an austere style consistent with the success of the Daqing oil field—service areas, multistory buildings, and cultural areas should be avoided in order to ensure maximum resources for heavy industry.

[5]: 166  Consistent with this mandate, Director of the Planning Commission Li Fuchun directed that at Panzhihua, workers should "dig a hole for a toilet" and only canvas tents should be necessary for housing.

[5]: 166  According to academic Hou Li, the resulting style of construction is best characterized as "industrialization without urbanization.

[5]: 187  To ensure that the facility had the level foundation necessary for steel production, workers built the factory on massive steps carved out of the slope.

[5]: 187 Consistent with the Third Front construction's emphasis on secrecy due to national security concerns, the completion of the Panzhihua facility was not promoted at the time.

[5]: 187  Today, the city government of Panzhihua promotes it as a model of Chinese technological ingenuity.

Highs drop to 21 °C (70 °F) in December and January, quickly rebounding during the dry springs, and peak in May and June, unlike much of the rest of the province.

Under the jurisdiction of Panzhihua City in Yanbian, Miyi and Renhe District, archeologists have collected nearly 20 bronze artifacts.

Attractions include a red cell spa, the Cave Stone Forest, the Jinsha River and Hai lake.

In 1971, Sichuan Agricultural Science and the original forest vegetation Panzhihua aerial survey, found more than 100,000 specimens.

Proven iron ore (mainly vanadium-titanium magnetite) reserves are 73.8 million tons, 72.3% of the provincial total.

Other minerals were chromium, gallium, scandium, nickel, copper, lead, zinc, manganese, platinum and other rare metals.