Sichuan-Shaanxi Revolutionary Base Site: Wanquan Defense Battle History Exhibition Hall

Sichuan-Shaanxi Revolutionary Base Site: Wanquan Defense Battle History Exhibition Hall

The Sichuan-Shaanxi Revolutionary Base Site: Wanquan Defense Battle History Exhibition Hall is a classic red tourism destination and a patriotic education base.

The Wanquan Defense Battle History Exhibition Hall is a specialized memorial museum commemorating the arduous yet triumphant major battle fought by the Fourth Front Army of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army during the Second Revolutionary Civil War to defend the Sichuan-Shaanxi Revolutionary Base—the country’s second-largest Soviet area—and achieving a glorious victory.

The exhibition hall is situated within Tuo Mountain Park in Wanquan City, covering an area of over 20 acres with a built-up area of 2,500 square meters. Designed as a garden-style complex, its main structure features an emerald-glazed roof ridge and a double-courtyard quadrangle with green-tiled brick-and-wood architecture. The hall was completed and opened to the public in May 1986. Comrade [Deng Xiaoping]—then General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee—inscribed the name of the museum, while veterans of the revolution such as Li Xiannian, Xu Xiangqian, Xu Shiyou, and Zhang Aiping contributed inscriptions. The exhibits are divided into seven major units and 18 sections, displaying over 1,000 cultural relics that vividly recreate the historical scene where Li Xiannian, Xu Xiangqian, Xu Shiyou, and others led 80,000 Red Army soldiers in a bloody battle against more than 200,000 Nationalist troops under Liu Xiang at Wanquan.

In June 2001, the exhibition hall was designated by the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee as one of the second batch of “National Patriotic Education Demonstration Bases.” In 2004, it was listed by the National Development and Reform Commission as one of China’s 100 classic red tourism sites. In April 2008, it became one of the first museums and exhibition halls among national patriotic education demonstration bases to offer free admission. The exhibition hall has now become a premium tourist attraction along Sichuan Province’s Eastern Ring Route.

The Sichuan-Shaanxi Revolutionary Base was a Soviet area established in December 1932 when the Fourth Front Army of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army strategically relocated to the border region of Sichuan and Shaanxi. With the support and cooperation of local party organizations and the broad laboring masses, it became a significant revolutionary stronghold. “It was the second-largest region of the Chinese Soviet Republic.” The main founders of the Sichuan-Shaanxi Revolutionary Base were Zhang Guotao, Chen Changhao, Xu Xiangqian, and Wang Weizhou. In March–April 1935, the Fourth Front Army crossed the Jialing River and moved westward into Sichuan, abandoning the Sichuan-Shaanxi Revolutionary Base.

The Sichuan-Shaanxi Revolutionary Base, and the arduous yet triumphant major battle fought to defend it—a specialized commemorative exhibition hall.

Location

Tuo Mountain North Road, Wanquan City, Dazhou, Sichuan Province