Red Tour

Hongyan Memorial Museum

(crienglish.com/Photo Source: people.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-09-26 17:17

Hongyan Revolutionary Memorial Museum is situated at 52 Hongyan Village, Yuzhong District, Chongqing. Though the location sounds obscure, it used to be the base of the Southern Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and the Chongqing office of the Eight Route Army during the period of Anti-Japanese War. It opened as a memorial museum on May 1st, 1958, and is now considered one of China's most important monuments.

During the Anti-Japanese War, some famous Chinese revolutionaries like Zhou Enlai and Dong Biwu lived and worked in the area. Mao Zedong also came here when he was attending the Chongqing Negotiation. The “Hongyan Spirit”, combines devotion with perseverance, honesty with diligence and was created by the revolutionaries that fought here. As a result, the place has become a well-known base for the Chinese revolution.

Besides the museum building, the Hongyan Revolutionary Memorial Museum also presents several famous revolutionary and historical sites, such as the Zhou Residence (where Zhou Enlai had lived and worked as the chief representative of the CPC in Chongqing Negotiation) located at 50 Zengjiayan, and the Gui Garden (where the October 10th Agreement was signed between the CPC and the Kuomintang, marking temporary peace between the two rivals after the end of the Anti-Japanese War) at 64 Zhongshansi Road.

The museum is open to the public all year round and attracts over 800 000 people annually. Most of the state leaders have come to Hongyan to pay their tributes. On April 16, 1991, Jiang Zemin, the Chinese president at that time, composed words of appreciation for the museum, encouraging people to retain the “Hongyan Spirit” and spread it throughout the country.