Construction began Sunday at China’s first modern industrial museum in Tangshan. Construction is expected to be completed by the end of 2012 at the city in Hebei province in North China.

China’s Modern Industrial Museum and Qixin Memory Cultural Park will cover an area of 51,000 square meters and require a total investment of 350 million yuan. It will become one of the top 10 landmarks of Tangshan city, Tangshan mayor Chen Guoying said.

The museum is located at the former site of the Tangshan Qixin cement plant, China’s first mechanized cement producer was founded in 1889 by Tang Tingshu during the Self-Strengthening Movement. It’s also called “the cradle of the Chinese cement industry” for producing China’s first sack of cement.

The industrial park will feature a museum with cultural and industrial exhibits. Transforming the current structure into a museum will involve repairing or renovating cement kiln systems, a timber structure platform, power generating plant and bathrooms built before 1943.

Tangshan is one of the birthplaces of modern industry in China. The city became home to China’s first modernized colliery, first standard-gauge railway, first steam locomotive and production of the first piece of sanitary porcelain.