Former Site of the Central Post Office

Former Site of the Central Post Office

The Former Site of the Central Post Office is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

At the end of 1931, the Central Post Office was established in this Xie family ancestral hall. At that time, only a few simple postal services were handled, dedicated exclusively to serving the central leadership.

The Central Post Office was under the jurisdiction of the Central People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs and comprised the Postal Department, the Review Department, the Telephone Switchboard Room, and the Messenger Squad. The entire office had over 50 staff members.

The Postal Department was mainly responsible for distributing letters, newspapers, and similar items; the Review Department primarily examined mail for any deviations and sometimes dispatched personnel to conduct inspections; the Telephone Switchboard Room was formed on the basis of the telephone team that relocated in September 1931 with the headquarters of the First Front Red Army. On the eve of the First National Soviet Congress, they installed wired telephone lines between various offices in Yeping. The Messenger Squad was responsible for delivering letters, documents, orders, and newspapers. At that time, there were four main postal routes: Central Post Office – Hupi – Pingshangang; Central Post Office – Ruijin County Town; Central Post Office – Dabaidi; Central Post Office – Rentian. The messengers were mostly from poor peasant or worker backgrounds. Due to the poor transportation conditions at the time, they relied entirely on walking and carrying around 100 jin (approximately 50 kg) of mailbags on their shoulders. The work was extremely arduous and dangerous—some comrades were even assassinated.

On May 1, 1932, the Central Postal Administration was established on the foundation of the Central Post Office, with Yang Yuebin, Lai Shaoyao, Wang Xingcai, Zhang Shanchu, and Wang Qifeng serving successively as its directors. After its establishment, the Postal Administration moved to Zhongshi Village in Yeping.

This former site was built in 1766 and is commonly known as “Weiyuan Tingxia.” It is now a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.