Former Site of the Youth Training Class of the Southern Zhejiang Special Committee and Rui’an County Committee

Former Site of the Youth Training Class of the Southern Zhejiang Special Committee and Rui’an County Committee

The former site of the Youth Training Class of the Southern Zhejiang Special Committee and Rui’an County Committee is a classic red tourism attraction.

After the outbreak of the full-scale civil war in 1946, student movements frequently occurred in the Wenzhou area. A large number of progressive students and patriotic young intellectuals flocked to the guerrilla zones of southern Zhejiang to join the revolution. The Southern Zhejiang Special Committee and Rui’an County Committee placed great emphasis on the recruitment and training of young intellectuals. Between 1947 and 1949, they successively held five youth training classes in places such as NanKengLu. Each training class lasted about two months, with 20 to 40 students per session. The training mainly involved classroom instruction covering both military knowledge and political education, as well as updates on the national liberation war. Instructors were usually officials from the Special Committee, County Committee, or the army. Teaching materials were self-prepared. In addition to classroom lectures, military training was also an important component of the program. During the day, students practiced drills, formation, grappling, and target shooting; at night, they took part in sentry duty or marching exercises. The young intellectuals and students trained at these classes were assigned to army units or various levels of party organizations, which not only strengthened the forces, government bodies, and local organizations but also increased the proportion of educated personnel within them.

The former site of the Youth Training Class of the Southern Zhejiang Special Committee and Rui’an County Committee is located in Nankenglu Natural Village, Yong’an Township, Rui’an City, approximately 50 kilometers from downtown Rui’an. The site consists of a four-room, two-story wooden building and the open space (datan) in front of it (enclosed by a low brick wall), covering a total area of about 200 square meters. The house itself occupies 150 square meters (15 meters long and 10 meters wide, with a built-up area of 300 square meters), while the open space covers 50 square meters. It is currently privately owned by villagers.

Source: Party History Research Office of the Wenzhou Municipal Committee of the CPC