September 26, 1959 saw the Songji-3 well begin spraying oil at 13.02 tonnes a day, and the field was named Daqing, meaning great celebration, because it came days before the tenth anniversary of the People’s Republic; by March 2023 it had produced 2.5 billion tonnes of crude oil.
一九五九年九月二十六日,松基三井喷出日产十三点零二吨的原油,油田因临近新中国成立十周年而得名”大庆”,意为”大喜庆”;到二零二三年三月,大庆油田累计生产原油已达二十五亿吨。
Heilongjiang’s Party secretary Ouyang Qin proposed renaming the town of Datong, where the well stood, as Daqing. In February 1960 the oil minister Yu Qiuli reported the discovery to Mao Zedong, and the Central Committee approved a campaign to bring in every available force.
黑龙江省委第一书记欧阳钦提议,把松基三井所在的大同镇改名为大庆。一九六零年二月,石油工业部部长余秋里向毛泽东汇报了油田的发现,党中央批准集中一切可以集中的力量展开石油大会战。
From 1960 to 1963 the field produced 11.662 million tonnes, helping China end its reliance on imported oil and shed its reputation as an oil-poor country; in December 1963 Zhou Enlai told the National People’s Congress that China was now basically self-sufficient.
一九六零年至一九六三年,大庆油田共生产原油一千一百六十六点二万吨,帮助中国摆脱对进口石油的依赖,甩掉了”贫油”的帽子;一九六三年十二月,周恩来在全国人大会议上宣布,中国的石油已经基本自给。
A Slogan for a Nation
一个全国性的口号
Mao called on industry to learn from Daqing on 25 January 1964, and on 5 February the Central Committee issued a notice saying the field had put politics in command and joined political thinking, revolutionary drive and scientific management, according to China Petroleum and Petrochemical News.
据《中国石油石化》报道,毛泽东于一九六四年一月二十五日发出”工业学大庆”的号召,二月五日,中共中央发出通知,指出大庆油田坚持政治挂帅,把政治思想、革命干劲和科学管理紧密结合起来。
At the end of 1964 the driller Wang Jinxi, speaking for the country’s workers, said he would fight to develop the great oilfield even if it cost him twenty years of his life, according to the Economic Observer, and People’s Daily’s report of 20 April 1964, “The Daqing Spirit, the Daqing People”, first introduced the term to the country, according to the Ministry of Education.
据《经济观察报》报道,一九六四年底,钻井工人王进喜代表全国工人发言,说哪怕少活二十年,也要拼命拿下这个大油田;据教育部网站介绍,一九六四年四月二十日《人民日报》刊发的《大庆精神大庆人》,第一次向全国提出了”大庆精神”这一概念。
Still Pumping, Less Central
仍在出油,但不再居于中心
From 1976 to 2002 Daqing produced more than 50 million tonnes of crude a year, a record for 27 years. In 2025 it held its crude output at 30 million tonnes for the 11th year running and raised gas to 6.1 billion cubic metres, with its Gulong shale oil now producing, according to CNPC.
一九七六年至二零零二年,大庆油田连续二十七年保持年产原油五千万吨以上。据中国石油介绍,二零二五年,大庆油田原油产量连续第十一年稳守三千万吨,天然气产量升至六十一亿立方米,古龙页岩油也已投产。
By 26 March 2023 it had produced 2.5 billion tonnes, 36 percent of China’s onshore crude, and paid more than ¥3 trillion in taxes and funds, according to People’s Daily and 21st Century Business Herald. It is still China’s largest onshore field by cumulative output, but its 2025 oil and gas equivalent of about 34.86 million tonnes was roughly half that of Changqing, which exceeded 65 million tonnes, on the companies’ own reported figures, according to a Sohu roundup.
据《人民日报》和21世纪经济报道,截至二零二三年三月二十六日,大庆油田累计生产原油二十五亿吨,占全国陆上原油总产量的百分之三十六,累计上缴税费和各种资金三万多亿元。它至今仍是中国累计产量最大的陆上油田,但据搜狐整理的各油田自报数据,二零二五年大庆油气当量约三千四百八十六万吨,约为油气当量超过六千五百万吨的长庆油田的一半。
According to Daqing’s 2024 statistical communiqué, GDP reached ¥281.58 billion, up 3.2 percent, or ¥105,008 per head, with the secondary sector at 52.5 percent of output, down from 59.5 percent in 2022, and services at 39.2 percent. The permanent population was 2.663 million at the end of 2024, down 37,000 in a year and from 2.78 million at the 2020 census.
大庆市二零二四年统计公报显示,全年生产总值二千八百一十五点八亿元,增长百分之三点二,人均生产总值十万五千零八元;第二产业占百分之五十二点五,低于二零二二年的百分之五十九点五,第三产业占百分之三十九点二。二零二四年末全市常住人口二百六十六点三万人,比上年末减少三点七万人,二零二零年人口普查时为二百七十八万人。
Getting to Daqing is easy: the Harbin–Qiqihar high-speed line, opened in 2015, brings the fastest trains from Harbin in 44 minutes, according to a Ctrip timetable.
前往大庆十分方便:二零一五年开通的哈齐高铁,使从哈尔滨出发最快的列车四十四分钟可达,据携程时刻表。
The Songji-3 well still stands 6 kilometres south-west of Gaotaizi town in Datong District, beside a flag-shaped relief inscribed “Daqing, from here it came”, according to China Radio.
据央广网报道,松基三井至今仍立在大同区高台子镇西南六公里处,旁边是一块旗帜造型的浮雕,上面镌刻着”大庆,从这里走来”。