Zhoushan Opium War Site Park

Zhoushan Opium War Site Park

Zhoushan Opium War Site Park is a cultural tourism attraction, a classic red tourism site, a patriotic education base, and a national defense education base.

In 1840 (the 20th year of the Daoguang reign in the Qing Dynasty), the Opium War broke out as Britain invaded China. On July 5 of the same year, British forces bombarded Dinghai City, which fell the following day. Zhang ChaoFa, the garrison commander of Dinghai, was seriously wounded, and Yao HuaiXiang, the county magistrate, along with many soldiers, died in battle. In September 1841, British forces attacked Zhoushan again. Zhang ChaoFa, commander of the Dinghai garrison, Wang Xipeng, commander of the Shouchun garrison, and Zheng Guohong, commander of the Chuzhou garrison, led 5,800 soldiers in a bloody six-day battle at Xiaofeng Ridge and Zhushan west of Dinghai City. They died heroically one after another. The First Defense of Dinghai marked the first time British invaders occupied Chinese territory by force, and it was also the first major military defeat and territorial loss suffered by China’s feudal ruling class in modern history — a moment of national humiliation. It can be said that the Opium War launched by the British government, which forced China onto the humiliating path of a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, began with the fall of Dinghai. The Second Defense of Dinghai was the longest and most intense and tragic battle of the entire Opium War. The two battles for Dinghai hold significant importance in China’s modern history of resisting foreign aggression.

To honor the martyrs, enlighten future generations, and promote patriotism, in 1995 the Zhoushan Municipal People’s Government decided to build a thematic memorial park centered on the Zhoushan Opium War Memorial Museum — the Zhoushan Opium War Site Park. Located on Xiaofeng Ridge west of Dinghai City in Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province, the park is a thematic memorial site built around the ancient battlefield ruins of the Opium War to promote patriotic education. Planning began in 1992, and the park was completed and opened to the public in June 1997, covering an area of over 10 hectares. The park features the Zhoushan Opium War Memorial Museum, the “Three Generals” Memorial Plaza, the Monument of Hundred Generals’ Inscriptions, the Tower of Indomitable Spirit, the ancient tombs of soldiers who died resisting the British, and the relocated Three Loyalists Shrine.

The Zhoushan Opium War Memorial Museum is the main building of the park, covering an area of 672 square meters. In 1997, the late Jiang Zemin, then General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee Politburo Standing Committee and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, personally inscribed the museum’s name. The museum is divided into three exhibition areas mainly in chronological order: the first introduces the background and process of the First Opium War between China and Britain; the second focuses on the full course of the First Defense of Dinghai against the British in July 1840; the third mainly displays the detailed events of the Second Defense of Dinghai in September 1841, led by the “Three Generals” — Zhang ChaoFa, Wang Xipeng, and Zheng Guohong — with 5,800 Qing soldiers. The museum displays a large number of photographic materials, sculptures, models, sand tables, and historical relics, and is equipped with high-tech large-screen projection TVs and audio-guide maps, offering visitors an immersive experience.

The “Three Generals” Memorial Plaza is located atop Zhushan, covering an area of more than 600 square meters. At its center stands a monument composed of three 21-meter-high stainless steel swords. In front of the monument are over six-meter-tall sculptures of the Three Generals, carved from red granite, standing with swords in hand, faces resolute and gaze fixed on Dinghai City, symbolizing the indomitable spirit of defending the nation to the death. The north side of the monument’s base features a set of bronze reliefs depicting the determined resistance of Dinghai’s soldiers and civilians against British invaders.

The Three Loyalists Shrine was established in 1846 by decree of Emperor Daoguang to commemorate the heroic deaths of Zhang ChaoFa, commander of the Dinghai garrison, Wang Xipeng, commander of the Shouchun garrison, and Zheng Guohong, commander of the Chuzhou garrison. Constructed in 1854 and rebuilt in 1884, it was listed as a Zhejiang Provincial Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit in 1989. The current shrine was completely relocated here in March 1997 from its original site at No. 17 Changxiang Lane, Renmin South Road, Dinghai. Covering an area of 1,360 square meters, the shrine displays statues of the “Three Generals of Dinghai,” as well as cultural relics, photographs, and calligraphy and paintings.

The ancient tomb complex of soldiers who died resisting the British is located southeast of Zhushan, where thousands of Qing soldiers who sacrificed their lives in the Second Defense of Dinghai are buried. Though weathered by over 160 years of wind and rain, the inscriptions on the tombstones — “By Imperial Order: Tomb of Fallen Soldiers” — remain clearly legible.

The Monument of Hundred Generals’ Inscriptions will collect inscriptions from 100 generals of the People’s Republic of China for the park. So far, inscriptions from over 60 generals, including Liu Huaqing, Zhang Zhen, and others, have been collected and engraved.

Over the past 10 years since its opening, the site park has fully served as a base for patriotic and national defense education, receiving over 400,000 visitors. More than 60 central and provincial-level leaders, including Jiang Zemin, Li Peng, Zhu Rongji, Xi Jinping, Wen Jiabao, Jia Qinglin, Peng Peiyun, Zeng Qinghong, Jiang Enzhu, Zhang Dejiang, Chai Songyue, and Meng Jianzhu, have visited and offered guidance. Additionally, the park has hosted over 40 overseas and foreign groups from the United States, Britain, Russia, the Netherlands, Japan, South Korea, as well as Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, with audiences exceeding a thousand.

Over the past decade, the park has earned widespread acclaim for its profound historical significance, excellent facilities, and outstanding reception services. It has successively received honors such as Advanced Collective of Zhejiang Province’s Construction System, Civilized Model Site of Zhejiang Province’s Construction System, Classic Red Tourism Destination for Youth in Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Patriotic Education Base, and Zhejiang National Defense Education Base. In June 2001, the memorial museum was announced by the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee as part of the second batch of National Top 100 Patriotic Education Bases.