Longzhou Uprising Memorial Park Scenic Area

Longzhou Uprising Memorial Park Scenic Area

The Longzhou Uprising Memorial Park Scenic Area is a National AAAA-level Tourist Attraction.

In December 2015, the "Longzhou Uprising Memorial Park Scenic Area," comprising the Longzhou Uprising Memorial Hall, the former site of the Eighth Army of the Red Army Headquarters, the former French Consulate in Longzhou, and the site of the Iron Bridge Battle, was designated as a National AAAA-level Tourist Attraction.

The Longzhou Uprising Memorial Hall, also known as the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army Eighth Army Revolutionary Memorial Hall, is a thematic memorial dedicated to commemorating Deng Xiaoping’s personal organization, leadership, and initiation of the Longzhou Uprising and the establishment of the Eighth Army of the Red Army. With a construction area of over 5,400 square meters, the building features a "five-pointed star" shaped steel-concrete structure. The exhibition area spans more than 2,000 square meters and displays over 300 cultural relics, along with more than 800 precious historical and on-site photos related to the Longzhou Uprising.

In terms of exhibition format, the Longzhou Uprising Memorial Hall utilizes modern optical techniques. Through a variety of presentation methods including cultural relics, historical photographs, and reconstructed scenes, the historical process of the Longzhou Uprising is vividly conveyed. This enhances the appeal of the exhibits, brings visitors closer to the history, and improves the overall exhibition experience.

The former site of the Headquarters of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army Eighth Army is also known as the Red Army Building. The headquarters is a three-story French-style building with brick walls and wooden floors. The former site of the Left River Revolutionary Committee is a two-story Chinese-style brick-and-wood building. Both structures were originally part of the "Rui Feng Xiang" money shop. In 1929, Comrade Deng Xiaoping came to Longzhou to prepare for the uprising, and in 1930, he led the victorious Longzhou Uprising and established the Eighth Army of the Red Army, using this place as his office and residence, which also served as the command center of the Eighth Army. During this time, Deng Xiaoping planted two cypress trees in front of the headquarters, which remain lush, vigorous, and full of life to this day. Deng Xiaoping inquired about the condition of these two cypress trees twice, in 1971 and 1978.

In February 1963, the former sites of the Army Headquarters and the Left River Revolutionary Committee were listed as Autonomous Region-level Cultural Relics Protection Units. In 1988, they were designated as National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units, and the original meeting room and Deng Xiaoping’s bedroom were restored. In June 2011, they were named one of the National Patriotic Education Demonstration Bases by the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

The former site of the French Consulate in Longzhou consists of two rectangular French-style buildings constructed in 1896. They are five meters high, with brick walls and stone floors. The spiral staircases and floorboards are all made of premium rosewood, and the roofs are covered with corrugated iron sheets. The buildings are surrounded by large archways, with 2-meter-wide corridors inside each arch. Each building covers a construction area of 876 square meters, with a total area of 1,752 square meters. The entire site is enclosed by tall camphor trees. At the time, it was the first foreign consulate in Guangxi. The original site was located at Louyuanjiao on the west bank of the river. The current site was formerly the Longzhou Railway Station on the Longzhou–Dongdeng railway, jointly operated by Chinese and French interests. The railway ceased operations due to a dispute over track gauge, and the consulate moved in 1898, remaining until August 1949. It was designated as an Autonomous Region-level Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit in 2000.

In the second year of the Republic of China (1913), prominent military and political figures in Longzhou, including Lu Rongting, Tan Haoming, and Lin Futian, jointly decided to construct the Longzhou Iron Bridge. The bridge was built under the responsibility of Wei Muhua (an overseas Chinese), the owner of the Huari Company at the time, with design by Chinese engineer Huang Ying. The entire construction took two years and was completed in the fourth year of the Republic of China. The bridge is 123 meters long, 3.8 meters wide, and 26 meters high. It was the only bridge connecting the northern and southern parts of Longzhou County during the Republican era and the earliest highway iron bridge in Guangxi. On March 20, 1930, the Gui clique army launched a surprise attack on Longzhou. Yu Zuoyu led soldiers of the Eighth Army of the Red Army in fierce combat against the enemy. Due to the overwhelming disparity in forces, and in order to cover the retreat of the army headquarters and main forces, over 400 soldiers of the Eighth Army held their ground at the Longzhou Iron Bridge and engaged in a tragic defensive battle. They killed over 800 enemies, but more than 400 soldiers of the Eighth Army sacrificed their lives heroically. In July 1940 (the 29th year of the Republic of China), on the eve of the second Japanese invasion of Longzhou from Nanning, the Kuomintang army, under the pretext of blocking the Japanese advance, blew up the iron bridge.

To honor history, remember the past, and inspire future generations, in 2009, Longzhou County, in accordance with the planning of red tourism construction projects, restored the site of the Iron Bridge Battle. The project mainly involved expanding the area of the site, constructing a small leisure plaza, restoring the broken sections of the bridge, and building embankments. The project was completed in late January 2010.