Gaoshan Hongshao (High Mountain Red Outpost)

Gaoshan Hongshao

Gaoshan Hongshao is a cultural relic protection unit of Hunan Province and a patriotic education base.

“Gaoshan Hongshao” is the honorary name of the Nanshan Air Defense Outpost, located at the summit of Xishan Mountain in the pasture, at an altitude of 1,860 meters. It was the highest-altitude outpost built among the five central-southern provinces at that time. From here, the entire “Eighty-Li Nanshan” area can be viewed. The outpost is fully equipped and structurally solid, consisting of five parts: barracks, bunkers, tunnels, trenches, and a basketball court, covering a total area of 3,456 square meters. It is now a revolutionary tradition and patriotic education base for teenagers in Shaoyang City.

In the 10th year of the Qianlong reign during the Qing Dynasty, the Baoqing Second Prefecture built a signal cannon platform here to announce peace. In the winter of 1934, the Second and Sixth Armies of the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army successively passed through this area and dug trenches to resist enemy forces. In the early years after liberation, a small group of die-hard Kuomintang members in the region attempted to use Nanshan as a guerrilla base and hoped to receive air-dropped relief from the Taiwan authorities. To prevent overseas reactionary forces from conducting airdrops or parachute landings, in June 1963, the Guangzhou Military Region officially established an outpost here, officially named the “National Defense Air Defense Post of a Certain Unit in Central-South China.”

Due to the outpost soldiers’ dedication to duty, which prevented repeated incidents of Taiwanese spy airdrops and parachute infiltrations, on October 1, 1969, the outpost’s representative Zhou Yizhen went to Beijing to attend the National Day celebration and was warmly received by Chairman Mao Zedong. As a result, the outpost was honored by the Central Military Commission as “Gaoshan Hongshao.” Major newspapers such as the People’s Daily, PLA Daily, and Hunan Daily extensively reported its exemplary deeds. In 1975, to promote and commend the outpost’s outstanding contributions, the Guangzhou Military Region and Xiaoxiang Film Studio jointly produced a documentary titled “Gaoshan Hongshao,” which was screened nationwide. Later, plays and operas based on the theme of “Gaoshan Hongshao” were performed for a long time across the country, making “Gaoshan Hongshao” a household name throughout China. In March 1978, the outpost was disbanded. In July 2003, the Shaoyang Municipal People’s Government approved “Gaoshan Hongshao” as a municipal-level cultural relic protection unit; the Hunan Provincial People’s Government approved it as a youth patriotic education base. In October 2005, Xiaoxiang Film Studio filmed the movie “Scenery Outside the Outpost” here, which was widely broadcast in China.

In recent years, the number of visitors to “Gaoshan Hongshao,” especially teenagers from within and outside the province, has been continuously increasing. The Guangzhou Military Region has also shown great concern. To further promote the spirit of patriotism, the military region approved and donated a decommissioned Type 62 light tank and a Type 54 122mm howitzer in 2007, adding more prestige to the outpost. On this basis, the Nanshan Scenic Area Management Office invested over 200,000 yuan to build a film screening room, weapons exhibition plaza, display room, lounge, and dining hall here, aiming to recreate the heroic spirit and simple, hard life of the outpost soldiers for visitors.

Further Reading:

· Ninth Batch of Cultural Relic Protection Units of Hunan Province