Ranzhuang Tunnel Warfare Site

Ranzhuang Tunnel Warfare Site

The Ranzhuang Tunnel Warfare Site is a national AAAA-level tourist attraction, a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level, a classic red tourism destination, and a patriotic education base.

The Ranzhuang Tunnel Warfare Site is located in Qingyuan County, Hebei Province. In March 1961, it was listed among the first batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level by the State Council. In January 1995, it was designated as a National Youth Education Demonstration Base by the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League, and in June 1997, it was named a National Patriotic Education Demonstration Base by the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee. It is a national AAA-level scenic area. Major attractions include: the Ranzhuang Tunnel Warfare Memorial Hall, the Jizhong Ranzhuang Tunnel Warfare Exhibition Hall, and the Ranzhuang Tunnel Warfare Site Protection Zone.

The Ranzhuang Tunnel Warfare Memorial Hall was built in 1959 and was originally under the administration of Ranzhuang Village. Over time and in response to practical needs, the memorial hall underwent several changes. In March 2004, the Qingyuan County Tunnel Warfare Site Cultural Relics Protection Management Committee and the Qingyuan County Patriotic Education Base Management Committee were established as a full-funded, county-party-committee-affiliated institution at the division level. The name of the memorial hall was inscribed by Marshal Nie Rongzhen.

The Jizhong Ranzhuang Tunnel Warfare Exhibition Hall was completed in 1991 and underwent a redesign in 1997. General Yang Chengwu inscribed the plaque for the exhibition hall. The hall houses a large collection of revolutionary relics and uses modern display techniques such as sound, light, and electricity to recreate the scenes of that era.

The Ranzhuang Tunnel Warfare Site Protection Zone covers an area of 300,000 square meters. It still retains the environmental features of a Jizhong Plain village from the 1930s and 1940s, including well-preserved combat fortifications such as high-building positions, animal troughs, ground platforms, stoves, stone forts, and flour cabinets. Restored displays of the Ranzhuang Anti-Japanese Village Office and the Anti-Japanese Armed Committee allow visitors to immerse themselves in the wartime atmosphere. Underground, 3,000 meters of tunnels used for combat during the war remain intact, along with underground facilities such as blockades, peepholes, prison cages, traps, and underground munitions factories.

After the July 7th Incident in 1937, the Japanese army launched a large-scale southern invasion, employing brutal "iron wall encirclement" and "sweeping comb" tactics to carry out inhumane "mopping-up" operations, implementing the "Three Alls" policy of "burn all, kill all, loot all." In the Jizhong Plain alone, which spans 60,000 square kilometers, 1,783 strongholds and watchtowers were built, over 20,000 kilometers of roads were constructed, and 8,878 kilometers of trenches were dug, fragmenting the plain into 2,670 isolated sections, causing immense suffering to the local population. Under these dire circumstances, the people of Jizhong turned to tunnel warfare. This method became a unique form of combat in the open plains, allowing them to protect themselves, eliminate the enemy, sustain resistance efforts, expand anti-Japanese bases, and shift the tide of war. The people of Ranzhuang, through their ingenuity and creativity, designed various fortifications and tunnel entrances, deploying different combat strategies. In an ordinary village, they achieved extraordinary feats and were hailed as a model village for tunnel warfare. Marshal Nie Rongzhen personally inscribed: "The elusive and strategically brilliant tunnel warfare is a great initiative by the people of North China to defend their homes, wage guerrilla warfare, and defeat the stubborn enemy in the plains. Tunnel warfare once again demonstrates the boundless power of people's war."

The tunnels of Ranzhuang are centered around the cross street, with four main arteries running east, west, south, and north, spanning 25 kilometers in total. There are 13 branch lines running north-south and 11 running east-west. There are also inter-village tunnels extending west to Dongsunzhuang and northeast to Jiangzhuang, as well as extra-village tunnels leading southeast to Suijiafen and Hepo, forming an interconnected network of tunnels between villages and households that allows for both advance and retreat, attack and defense. The entrances and exits of the tunnels are ingeniously designed—some are hidden within interior walls, others along the ground near walls, and some are concealed beneath animal troughs, kang beds, stoves, wells, flour cabinets, or looms, blending seamlessly with their surroundings to avoid detection by the enemy.

The tunnels are generally located 2 meters underground, with a height of about 1 to 1.5 meters and a width of approximately 0.8 to 1 meter. They are divided into military tunnels for combat use and civilian tunnels for sheltering the public. The tunnels are equipped with lighting and signposts, as well as storage rooms, kitchens, toilets, and rest areas. To maximize the effectiveness of the tunnels, high-building positions were built on rooftops at key village intersections, and ground fortifications were constructed, integrating the underground and above-ground defenses. Additionally, fortifications and gun ports were built in various locations such as small temples, millstones, flatbread ovens, counters, corners, and along walls, all connected to the tunnels for observation, shooting, and mine deployment. The Ranzhuang tunnel warfare fortifications are designed to be resistant to destruction, bullets, flooding, poison gas, and fire.

The Ranzhuang tunnel warfare fortifications also feature the "Three Connectivities" and "Three Crossings." The "Three Connectivities" refer to the interconnection of high buildings, tunnels, and fortresses. The "Three Crossings" refer to the overlapping fields of fire between exposed and hidden gun ports, between high-building and fortress firepower, and between wall and fortress firepower.

Ranzhuang Village: Ranzhuang Village is 9 kilometers east of the Baoheng Road, 8 kilometers west of the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway, and 15 kilometers from National Highway 107. The Liye Road (formerly Zhangwang Road) runs east-west across the village, while the Tourism Road runs north-south. The village enjoys convenient transportation, with over 90% of its roads paved.

The village has 970 households, a population of 3,619, and 115 party members, including 11 female party members, 4 pre-liberation veteran party members. The village has 5,331.6 mu of arable land. The administrative village covers an area of 1,800 mu, including 450 mu within the site protection zone.

...Famous in the history of warfare both in China and abroad... Detailed information about Ranzhuang Village ++

Further reading:

· Second Batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the Provincial Level in Hebei Province

· First Batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level