Site of the Red Army Bridge

Site of the Red Army Bridge

The Site of the Red Army Bridge is a classic destination on China’s red tourism route.

The Site of the Red Army Bridge is located in Group 5, Lixin Village, Shipi Town, Ninghua County, where it spans the Hekou Stream from north to south along the county road from Shipi (Stone Wall) to Huai (Soil).

During the Agrarian Revolutionary War, Shipi District (now Shipi Town, Ninghua County) was one of the earliest Soviet areas established in Ninghua and was continuously garrisoned by both Central and local Red Army forces. In the fifth lunar month of 1933, the Dutou Bridge in Lixin Township (now Lixin Village, Shipi Town, Ninghua County) was washed away by a flood. To address the need for civilian and military passage, the Red Army stationed in Shipi and local residents jointly constructed a new multi-arch stone bridge, which was completed in the spring of 1934. The bridge’s railing features inscriptions reading “Long Live the Red Army” and “Built in 1934 by the Workers and Peasants of Ninghua.”

On June 17, 1977, a torrential rainstorm in Shipi destroyed the Red Army Bridge. The Shipi People’s Commune Management Committee began reconstruction of a stone-pierred, cement-surfaced bridge at the original site in the autumn of 1977, completing it that winter. The new bridge’s railing was reinscribed with the phrases “Long Live the Red Army” and “Built in 1934 by the Workers and Peasants of Ninghua,” along with the new addition: “Reconstructed in 1977.”

Source: Party History Research Office of the Sanming Municipal Committee

Shipi Town: Located in the western part of Ninghua County, 17 kilometers from the county seat, Shipi Town was historically known as Yuping and renamed Shipi during the mid-Tang Dynasty. The town covers a total area of 136.5 square kilometers, with 31,900 mu of arable land and 148,700 mu of forested land. It administers 22 administrative villages, 1 residential committee, 242 villager groups, and has a total population of 37,266. The town government is based in Hetou Village.

Shipi Town is home to the world-renowned Hakka Ancestral Land. Since 1995, it has successfully hosted 21 editions of the World Hakka Gathering and Ancestral Worship Ceremony in Shipi, attracting participants from five continents and over 100... More details about Shipi Town++