Site of the Red Army Watchtower

Site of the Red Army Watchtower

The Site of the Red Army Watchtower is a classic destination for red tourism.

The site of the Red Army Watchtower is located in the center of the old street of Songxi Village, Songxi Town, Qingliu County. It spans across the street and stands about 100 meters from the former site of the Songxi Soviet Government.

The Red Army Watchtower was a guard post used when the Independent 7th Division and other units were stationed in Songxi. Songxi is an important town in northeastern Qingliu. To its west lies the urban area of Qingliu, to its north is Quanshang in Ninghua, to its east one can reach Guihua via Linshe, and to its south it connects to Songkou, a crucial waterway hub on the Yong’an–Qingliu route—making it of great strategic significance. During the Agrarian Revolutionary War, township and district-level Soviet governments were successively established here. Units such as the Independent 7th Division of the Red Army and the Southeastern Guerrilla Detachment of Ningqinggui were stationed here for extended periods, and the Independent 7th Regiment of Ningqinggui was also founded in this area.

The original watchtower had a wooden upper structure that served as a sentry post for the Red Army to stand guard and observe enemy movements, while the lower part was a brick gateway with a barrier installed during wartime. The original Red Army Watchtower was later destroyed in battle. The current structure was rebuilt after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, restoring its historical appearance. The lower part is a brick gateway, and the upper part is a four-cornered pavilion with a brick-concrete structure.

Source: Party History Research Office of the Sanming Municipal Committee

Songxi Town: Located in the northeastern part of Qingliu County and bordering Ninghua County to the north, Songxi Town is the county’s secondary central town and is known as the “Hometown of Tofu Skin.” The town has a population of 18,000, covers an area of 187 square kilometers, and administers 12 administrative villages and one neighborhood committee. It has 240,000 mu of arable land. Provincial Highway Lingwen and the under-construction extension of the Beijing–Fuzhou Expressway through Sanning run through the town, providing convenient transportation. It is 110 kilometers from Sanming and 20 kilometers from the county seat. With well-developed communications and active commercial services, the town has long been an important hub for commodity distribution and trade in northern Qingliu.

Songxi Town boasts abundant resources... More details about Songxi Town++