Pingxi Anti-Japanese Base Area

Pingxi Anti-Japanese Base Area

The Pingxi Anti-Japanese Base Area is a classic red tourism destination.

Destination Introduction

The Pingxi region includes most of three counties: Wanping (now Fengtai District of Beijing), Fangshan (including the Shidu Scenic Area), and Laishui (including the Yesanpo Scenic Area), as well as parts of other counties such as Changping, Yanqing, Liangxiang (now Fangshan District), Zhuolu, Zhuozhou, Yu County, Xuanhua, and Huailai. After the Marco Polo Bridge Incident in July, during August, areas such as Changping, Nankou, Huailai, Xuanhua, and Liangxiang fell to Japanese forces; by September, Fangshan, Zhuozhou, Laishui, and Zhuolu were successively occupied by the Japanese army. Major towns and vast areas across Pingxi fell into enemy hands, and the once-beautiful landscapes of Pingxi were shrouded in bloodshed and turmoil.

Pingxi served as a strong northern barrier for the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Border Region. Establishing the Pingxi Base Area helped contain the enemy and consolidate the border region.

Pingxi was the front line in North China, serving as a strategic position from which the Eighth Route Army could advance into Rehe and Chahar. It was especially crucial for holding onto Eastern Hebei and opening up Northern Ping (Pingbei), as well as being the strategic rear base for the 10th Sub-region of Central Hebei.

In early March 1938, Deng Hua, political commissar of the First Detachment of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military District, led the Third Brigade into Zhaitang Valley to establish the first anti-Japanese base area in Beiping — the Pingxi Anti-Japanese Base Area. Its headquarters was set up in the Nie family compound in Xizhaitang Village. Under the leadership of the Party, party members and key mass figures were organized into work teams dispatched to various villages to mobilize the people and establish armed forces. A vigorous anti-Japanese and national salvation movement unfolded across Pingxi. The Pingxi Anti-Japanese Base Area became a sharp blade thrust into the enemy’s rear in North China.

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