North Hebei Martyrs' Cemetery

North Hebei Martyrs' Cemetery

North Hebei Martyrs' Cemetery is a cultural tourism attraction, a classic red tourism site, and a patriotic education base.

North Hebei Martyrs' Cemetery is situated in the urban area of Nangong City, covering an area of over 220,000 square meters. It is one of the earliest established, largest in scale, and most martyrs interred cemeteries in Hebei Province. In August 1989, it was named a National Key Martyrs' Memorial Building Protection Unit by the State Council, and in May 1995, it was designated as a Hebei Provincial Patriotic Education Base by the Hebei Provincial Party Committee and Government.

The people of Southern Hebei have a glorious tradition of revolutionary struggle. During the Agrarian Revolutionary War, the War of Resistance against Japan, and the War of Liberation, over 50,000 revolutionary martyrs sacrificed their precious lives for the interests of the nation and the people. To commemorate the martyrs and educate future generations, on March 1, 1946, the Southern Hebei Administrative Office decided to build the North Hebei Martyrs' Cemetery in Nangong City and established a preparatory committee for the cemetery's construction, with Wang Renzhong, Song Renqiong, Ma Guorui, and others as key members.

The main gate of the cemetery is a tall, east-facing memorial archway. Against the backdrop of a wide asphalt road and two rows of towering green cypresses, it exudes a solemn and tranquil atmosphere.

Entering the cemetery and heading west, on the north side of the asphalt road, stands the central structure of the cemetery — the North Hebei Martyrs' Memorial Tower. The tower is 29.5 meters high, with its base constructed from more than 7,000 bluestone slabs. The southern face of the tower bears the inscription by Comrade Mao Zedong: “Died for the Nation, Immortalized Forever,” while the northern face features the calligraphy by Comrade Deng Xiaoping: “North Hebei Martyrs' Memorial Tower.”

To the north of the memorial tower lies another major structure — the Southern Hebei Revolutionary Struggle Memorial Hall. A crossroad is formed between the tower and the hall, with two small commemorative monuments built in 1948 located at the northeast and northwest corners of the intersection. These are the earliest two buildings in the cemetery, inscribed with messages from leaders such as Chen Zaidao, Liu Zhijian, and Ma Guorui. To the north of the monuments is a rectangular square, at the northern end of which stands the 700-square-meter Southern Hebei Revolutionary Struggle Memorial Hall. Reconstructed in 1973 after the demolition of the old opera house, the hall uses advanced modern exhibition methods such as photographs, artifacts, and reconstructed scenes to vividly depict the glorious history of the revolutionary struggle of the people of Southern Hebei.

To the west of the memorial tower is the Martyrs' Memorial Pavilion, completed in 1986. This double-layered, eight-sided pavilion with traditional Chinese architectural style is beautifully designed, simple, and elegant, inspiring awe. The eight sides of the white marble stele inside are inscribed with messages from Xu Xiangqian, Chen Zaidao, and Wang Renzhong, as well as the names of nearly a thousand martyrs at or above the county-regiment level from the former Southern Hebei region.

To the south of the memorial tower is the burial area. Here stands a large public tomb built in 1959, housing the remains of 633 unnamed martyrs. The tombstone is inscribed with messages from Comrades Song Renqiong, Wang Renzhong, and Liu Zhijian. To the west of the public tomb square, along both sides of the asphalt road, is the single-martyr burial area, where the remains of 100 martyrs are laid to rest.

The North Hebei Martyrs' Cemetery has always prioritized the mission of “commemorating the martyrs and educating future generations.” For decades, it has collected and organized a large amount of valuable historical material and hundreds of revolutionary relics. Leveraging these resources and using various commemorative forms, the cemetery has provided the public with education on revolutionary traditions and patriotism. It serves as a base that closely aligns with current needs, supports the Party’s central tasks, commemorates the martyrs, and educates future generations.