Shatanggou Village

Shatanggou Village

Pingbei Red First Village is located 9 kilometers northwest of -Ke Township, 49 kilometers from Yanqing County, and 74 kilometers from Beijing, making it easily accessible.

During the Anti-Japanese War, it was one of the earliest regions of the Pingbei Anti-Japanese Base. In 1938, the first rural Party branch in the Pingbei region was established in Shatanggou Village. The Communist Party planted the seeds of revolution here and developed six rural Party members. During the war years, the people of the old revolutionary base engaged in arduous struggles against the Japanese invaders. The guerrilla forces supported the front lines from the rear, the Women’s Salvation Association cooked for soldiers, made military shoes, and sewed uniforms, while the Children’s Corps kept watch. The villagers united to resist the Japanese and made significant contributions.

To commemorate this revolutionary history and inspire future generations, -Ke Township held the “Pingbei Red First Village” Revolutionary Tradition Education Exhibition in June 2003 in Shatanggou, known as the “Pingbei Red First Village.” The exhibition mainly featured display boards and a large number of physical artifacts, focusing on the origins of the revolution in the Pingbei region, the history of Party member development, and the leadership of Song Shilun and Deng Hua’s Fourth Column in the people’s struggle against the Japanese puppet army, as well as the land reform carried out by the people of the old base areas and their active support for the Liberation War.

In 2004, Pingbei Red First Village was jointly designated as a “University Student Social Practice Base” by five organizations, including the Beijing Municipal Party Committee Propaganda Department, the Communist Youth League Beijing Municipal Committee, and the Capital University Students’ Federation. In April 2005, the county women’s federation awarded the village the title of “Women’s Red Education Base.” Since the launch of traditional revolutionary education, nearly ten thousand Party members from various universities, including Beijing College of Finance and Trade and Capital Medical University, have come here to reaffirm their Party oath and receive revolutionary tradition education.

Pingbei Red First Village is not only an ideal place for revolutionary tradition education but also a great destination to experience rural life. The villagers live within a horseshoe-shaped mountain valley. The small village has 80 households and a population of just over 200. The locals are kind and harmonious, with neighborly unity passed down through generations. The old-style adobe houses with traditional kang beds and old-fashioned gate towers make you feel the simplicity and honesty of the elders. Whether they are relatives, neighbors, friends, or guests, they are always willing to share what little they have, offering you a bowl of porridge, a bundle of firewood, or a heartfelt kindness that you will never forget. Their genuine and loyal hospitality will make you reluctant to leave and fill you with a deep sense of nostalgia.

The village residences are quite unique, and you’ll notice this upon arrival: the villagers all live on the northern mountain. Upon closer observation, you’ll see that each household is backed by the mountain and faces the front hill, with the horseshoe-shaped mountain range embracing the village entrance, giving it a very secluded feel. When you arrive in the village, you’ll be enveloped by the serene mountains and find yourself in a dreamlike setting where “the quiet village echoes with magpie calls, and the low mountains stretch far with wild geese trailing in the distance.”

This ancient village is surrounded by lush forests and numerous ancient trees over a hundred years old. Even more magical is an old walnut tree with a small mulberry tree growing on it, creating a “tree-on-tree” sight rarely seen. In your free time, you can try your hand at farm work with the local elders. Amidst this green expanse, you can walk along stone-paved paths, admire round-mouth wells, touch horse-tethering posts, push large stone mills, and watch farmers plow fields, build up ridges for planting vegetables, and prune fruit trees—experiencing the simple local customs and returning to the embrace of nature.