Nanjing Crossing-the-Yangtze Victory Memorial Hall

Nanjing Crossing-the-Yangtze Victory Memorial Hall

The Nanjing Crossing-the-Yangtze Victory Memorial Hall is a classic red tourism destination and a patriotic education base.

The Crossing-the-Yangtze Victory Memorial Hall was originally located on the city wall of Yijiang Gate in Nanjing. Established on April 23, 1984, to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the liberation of Nanjing, the exhibition hall covers an area of 436 square meters. It is responsible for collecting, preserving, researching, and displaying cultural relics and materials related to the Crossing-the-Yangtze Campaign. The exhibition displays nearly a thousand pieces of valuable historical materials, including artifacts, documents, photographs, charts, objects, and replicas related to the campaign. The exhibits are divided into four major sections: the domestic situation before the Crossing-the-Yangtze Campaign; carrying the revolution through to the end; a million valiant troops crossing the great river; and planting the red flag across all of China. In 1998, the museum was designated as a youth ideological education site in Nanjing and a patriotic education base in Jiangsu Province, becoming one of the national classic red tourism sites. It serves as an important base for young people to visit, learn about history, receive revolutionary tradition education, and understand the spirit of the crossing. Currently, the old city wall building is vacant, severely damaged, with multiple pillars and walls cracked and paint peeling, urgently in need of repair.

In 2009, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Nanjing and the victory of the Crossing-the-Yangtze Campaign, the Nanjing municipal government built a new Crossing-the-Yangtze Victory Memorial Hall at a different location. The new museum is situated in the Sanchahe Estuary Park, where the Yangtze River meets the Qinhuai River, consisting of a Victory Square and the main exhibition area. It covers a total area of 21,000 square meters, with a total construction area of 6,582 square meters. On April 23 of the same year, the new Crossing-the-Yangtze Victory Memorial Hall in Nanjing was completed and opened to the public free of charge. A large-scale square performance titled "Eternal Sail" was also held that morning.

The main exhibition area of the Crossing-the-Yangtze Victory Memorial Hall is divided into four sections: Winds and Clouds over a Dark Land, Earth-Shattering Changes, The Righteous Path of Humanity, and The City of Victory. It displays 1,423 precious historical items related to the Crossing-the-Yangtze Campaign, including telegrams, documents, photographs, objects, and replicas. Among them are the “Jingdian” tugboat used to transport People’s Liberation Army troops across the river, wooden tricycles used by residents north of the Yangtze to deliver supplies and rescue wounded soldiers, various weapons used by the PLA during the crossing and captured foreign-made light and heavy machine guns from the Nationalist army, the doorplate of the office of the Secretary-General of the former Republic of China “Presidential Palace,” and American-made tableware. The entire exhibition vividly depicts the glorious journey of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, uniting and relying on the people, fighting bravely, crossing the Yangtze River to liberate Nanjing, and overthrowing the Chiang Kai-shek regime.