Chinese President Xi Jinping has visited revolutionary sites on the Loess Plateau during his domestic inspection this week, continuing a practice he has been following for some time.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, attaches great attention to revolutionary sites and has personally visited many such sites across the country.
Xi said these revolutionary resources bear witness to the Party's arduous but glorious journey and form the "most precious spiritual wealth," calling for carrying forward the revolutionary traditions.
The following are highlights of some of Xi's trips to the "red sites" in the past two years.
September 13-14, 2021
In a two-day inspection tour of Yulin City in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Xi visited the revolutionary site of Yangjiagou, where Mao Zedong and the Party's central authorities stayed for over four months between 1947 and 1948, commanding the War of Liberation and leading the land reform movement.
Xi stressed always upholding and improving the Party's leadership, upholding the basic tenets of Marxism and the principle of seeking truth from facts, and adapting Marxism to China's conditions.
Xi also visited the premises of the former prefectural Party committee of Suide.
The CPC has the support of the people, Xi said, explaining the success of the revolution. "We must carry forward revolutionary traditions and fine conduct and always keep the people's interests uppermost in mind," he said.
June 25, 2021
Xi led members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee to visit the "Red Building," once the main campus of Peking University.
During the visit, Xi noted that Peking University, the base of the New Culture Movement and a cradle of the May 4th Movement, witnessed the early spread of Marxism in China.
Xi said the place also witnessed the Party's early revolutionary activities in Beijing and is a place of great significance in the founding of the CPC.
April 25, 2021
In south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Xi visited a memorial park dedicated to the Battle of Xiangjiang during the Long March in the 1930s.
The battle, which happened soon after the beginning of the Long March, cost the Central Red Army more than 50,000 of its 86,000 troops. But the CPC remained unshaken in its convictions and emerged stronger from the setbacks.
Xi said that the battle was a life-or-death event of the Chinese revolution and stressed the importance of CPC members staying true to their ideals and convictions.
Xi called for carrying forward this spirit and meeting head-on with major risks and challenges on the country's new Long March to achieve the second centenary goal.
September 16, 2020
In central China's Hunan Province, Xi visited a revolution-themed exhibition chronicling the story of an impoverished villager named Xu Jiexiu.
In the 1930s, Xu offered shelter to three female Red Army soldiers on the Long March. Before their departure, the soldiers cut their only quilt into two pieces, leaving one part with Xu.
Xi said the story illustrates the people-oriented nature of the CPC and its deep care about the people. He urged CPC members to deliver on the Party's commitments and promises and stand together with the people on the Long March of the new era.
August 19, 2020
During an inspection tour to the city of Hefei, Xi visited a memorial hall commemorating the Crossing-the-Yangtze Campaign.
In April 1949, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) crossed the Yangtze River to seize Nanjing, the center of the reactionary rule of the Kuomintang, leading to national liberation.
The campaign's victory comes from masses of boats paddled by the people, Xi said. "We should never forget our original aspiration and founding mission, never forget the people, and always be loyal servants of the people."
July 22, 2020
Xi visited the memorial hall for the Siping Battle of the Chinese People's War of Liberation in northeast China's Jilin Province.
During the battle, nearly 20,000 officers and soldiers lost their lives. The battle, however, provided valuable experience for the PLA in city battles.
"We must keep firmly in mind that New China did not come easily," Xi said, calling on efforts to safeguard the great socialist cause and carry it forward.
September 16, 2019
During a three-day tour to central China's Henan Province, Xi chose a martyrs' cemetery in Xinxian County, an old revolutionary base, as his first stop and presented a basket of flowers at a monument to revolutionary martyrs.
Museums, memorial halls, and martyrs' cemeteries serve as the 'gene pool' of the revolutionary traditions for the Party and country, Xi said.
"Stories of the CPC, the revolutionary history, the old revolutionary bases, and heroes and martyrs must be told well," Xi added.
September 12, 2019
At Fragrant Hills in suburban Beijing, Xi visited places where Mao Zedong and other older-generation Party leaders had worked and lived after they arrived in the city in early 1949.
From there, Mao and his comrades led the revolution to a national victory and prepared for the founding of the People's Republic of China in October 1949.
Xi said that commemorating this part of history is to strengthen confidence in the path, theory, system, and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics. "It will embolden us to carry out the great struggle with many new historical characteristics and overcome any difficulties ahead," Xi said.
The CPC members should always maintain their enterprising spirit, ensure the Party's purity and advanced nature, and pass the test of the new era, Xi said.
