Songpan Red Army Long March Memorial Hall

Songpan Red Army Long March Memorial Hall

The Songpan Red Army Long March Memorial Hall is a classic red tourism attraction.

The Long March Memorial Monument Park is located on Yuanbao Mountain in Chuanzigou Village, east of Chuanzhusi Town, 16 kilometers north of Songpan County. Covering an area of 190,000 square meters, it is hailed as the "No. 1 Golden Monument in China." It was completed on August 20, 1990, and this date was designated as Red Army Day. In 1991, the park was listed as a provincial-level cultural relic protection unit, in 1994 as a provincial-level patriotic education base, in 2005 as a national patriotic education demonstration base, and in 2006 as a national key cultural relic protection unit. The park consists of the main memorial monument, group sculptures, reliefs, the memorial hall, inscribed stelae, and a visitor center. The memorial hall faces south and is a two-story brick-and-stone hybrid structure, 60 meters long from east to west, 17 meters wide from north to south, and 12.8 meters high overall. It displays a total of 236 cultural relics, including 34 inscriptions by national leaders and public figures, 37 oil paintings depicting scenes from the Long March, and 18 Red Army artifacts. The visitor center has a rectangular layout, facing southwest, is a brick-and-concrete structure, 39 meters long from north to south, 28 meters wide from east to west, 13 meters wide, and 15.8 meters high. The scenic view known as the "Golden Monument at Sunset" is dazzling and renowned both in China and abroad. Over the years, the park has welcomed over 1.8 million domestic and international visitors for educational purposes, making it an important site for revolutionary tradition and patriotic education.

Service Items: 1. Crossing Snow Mountains and Grasslands, 2. The Main Force of the Red Army Embarks on the Strategic Long March, 3. The Zunyi Conference Shines, Brilliant Strategy Breaks the Encirclement, 4. The Maogong-Daweijie Meeting, Red Army Struggles in Aba, 5. Deep Bonds Between Soldiers and Civilians, Unity of Tibetan and Han Peoples in Revolution, 6. Aba Today

Address: Chuanzhusi Town, Songpan County

Contact Number: 0837-7240877

Service Hours: 8:30–18:00

Transportation Route: Chengdu–Wenchuan–Maoxian–Songpan–Chuanzhusi

Chuanzhusi Town: A town under the jurisdiction of Songpan County. Established as Yuanba Township in 1956, restructured as a commune in 1973, restored as a township in 1984, and upgraded to a town in 1992. In the same year, it was renamed Chuanzhusi Town after merging with Zhangjin Township. Located in the northern part of the county, 15 kilometers from the county seat, it covers an area of 958.3 square kilometers with a population of 5,000. National Highway 213 passes through. It is a vital route to Huanglong, Jiuzhaigou, and the Great Grassland Scenic Areas. The town administers 14 village committees: Zhangjin No. 1, Zhangjin No. 2, Zhangjin No. 3, Jinheba, Balang, Yuanbazhi, Linpo, Bashigou, Wujiange, Chuanzigou, Lianghekou, Huangshengguan, Dongbei, and Heisi.

The Long March, spanning over two years and covering tens of thousands of miles, was undoubtedly the most arduous period in the history of the Red Army and even the entire People's Liberation Army. The Red Army, which started with nearly 200,000 troops, had only a little over 30,000 soldiers remaining upon reaching northern Shaanxi—a loss of over 80%, not counting new recruits gained during the march. The hardships of the Long March can be readily imagined.

Among the reduced forces, while a significant portion were martyrs who fell on the battlefield, there were also many non-combat losses during the two-year, over-ten-thousand-mile march on foot. Among these, crossing snow mountains and traversing grasslands were undoubtedly the most grueling parts of the Long March, with the highest number of non-combat casualties.

Especially the crossing of grasslands—within just seven short days, it caused extremely heavy casualties among the main forces of the three major Red Army groups. Although there has been no rigorous verification, incomplete statistics suggest that the combined casualties of the three groups during the grassland crossing exceeded 20,000.

Particularly for the Fourth Red Army Group, due to the erroneous actions of Zhang Guotao, they crossed the grasslands three times, suffering losses conservatively estimated at over 10,000 troops. Adding the more than 6,000 lost by the First Red Army Group and the over 3,000 lost by the Second Red Army Group, this small patch of Songpan Grassland alone caused over 20,000 casualties in just seven days. The harsh conditions, brutal environment, and devastating losses of the Red Army’s grassland crossing are truly unimaginable.

The Red Army first set foot on the grasslands—specifically the Songpan Grasslands—in mid-August 1935. At that time, the First Red Army (also known as the Central Red Army) and the Fourth Red Army had just successfully joined forces. After the rendezvous, the Central Committee decided to split the Red Army into left and right columns to march northward and cross the grasslands to establish a red base.

The Songpan Grasslands are located in the transitional zone between the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the Sichuan Basin, stretching over 500 kilometers in length and 300 kilometers in width, covering an area of about 15,000 square kilometers. Notably, the altitude is also very high, reaching over 3,500 meters.

Due to the abundant water and grass here—especially with the Black and White Rivers running through the area—the vegetation of the Songpan Grasslands is extremely rich, resembling a vast green ocean from afar. However, this seemingly beautiful grassland reveals why it is so sparsely populated once you step into it.

Beneath the grassy surface lies black, foul-smelling stagnant water—shallow enough to reach the knees in some places, deep enough to submerge a person in others. Moreover, it is nearly impossible to distinguish where the marshes are and where the solid ground is safe to tread. Therefore, the thing the Red Army feared most when crossing the grasslands was the marshes.

The bottomless waterlogged grass marshes could swallow almost anything, and knowing how to swim was useless. The most terrifying part was that once trapped, it was extremely difficult to get out, and the more one struggled, the deeper they sank.

Initially, many Red Army soldiers didn’t know this. When they saw comrades sink into the mud, they rushed to rescue them, only to end up trapped themselves and perishing. There were even instances where entire horses sank into the marshes and disappeared. Veteran Red Army soldier Yuan Meiyi recalled this harsh history, saying:

"The dark brown, foul-smelling marshes between the grass suddenly swallowed a comrade, and another who went to save him was also pulled in. Comrades who had eaten breakfast together just that morning vanished in the blink of an eye..."

Founding Lieutenant General Pei Zhouyu also had vivid memories of the grassland crossing. After the founding of New China, he specifically wrote about the "Four Hardships" of the Red Army crossing the grasslands:Difficult marching, difficult river crossings, difficult sleeping, and difficult eating..

Marching was difficult because the muddy, cold grasslands were riddled with marshes—making movement extremely hard and soldiers constantly at risk of sinking, which was very dangerous. River crossings were tough because although the rivers on the grasslands weren’t many or wide, the currents were rapid, and the glacial meltwater from the plateau was bone-chillingly cold. Coupled with prolonged marching, hunger, and exhaustion, the Red Army soldiers found it very hard to endure the cold stimulation, leading to many being swept away and killed during crossings.

Although the grasslands were only about 500 kilometers long and 300 kilometers wide, traversing them without logistical support or proper paths was still incredibly difficult. Most of the time, it took the Red Army about a week to cross, covering only fifty to sixty li per day. This posed the challenge of how to sleep at night. Pei Zhouyu once said:

"After marching fifty to sixty li on an empty stomach under the scorching sun all day, finding a dry and comfortable spot to sleep at night became everyone’s greatest wish—it was also a good chance to recover strength. But the grasslands were full of water and grass, with water knee-deep or muddy ground, or damp earth that oozed water with every step. Dry spots were rare."

Moreover, heavy rain often fell at night on the grasslands, leaving everyone with no choice but to endure. Several people would huddle under a single blanket, or use a piece of clothing as a makeshift umbrella. Many soldiers spent the agonizing nights sitting back-to-back in threes.

Apart from the harsh environment, the biggest challenge for the Red Army during their crossing of the grasslands was actually hunger. Ever since embarking on the Long March, aside from a few brief periods, the Red Army faced food shortages throughout the journey.

Without the support of a base area and constantly harassed and blockaded by the Nationalist forces, sustaining the meals of an army of tens of thousands became one of the most critical issues for the Red Army during the Long March.

Moreover, the grasslands lie on the edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, inherently an area with a harsh environment and sparse population. As a result, it was even more difficult for the Red Army to secure food supplies before entering the grasslands, and most units faced severe food shortages during the crossing.

Many Red Army units were allotted only three or four jin (approximately 1.5–2 kg) of dry rations before crossing the grasslands. With such meager provisions, devoid of any oil or meat, it was impossible to sustain a soldier for even seven days.

Therefore, in addition to battling the extremely harsh conditions of the grasslands and marching through adversity, the Red Army’s greatest enemy was hunger. How to fill their stomachs and find the energy to keep marching became the biggest challenge for every soldier.

Especially after two or three days into the grasslands, once the dry rations were completely exhausted, soldiers had no choice but to eat wild vegetables, grass roots, and tree bark to survive.

However, the southern-born Red Army soldiers were unfamiliar with the local environment and had no knowledge of which wild plants were edible and which were poisonous. Under these circumstances, they had to resort to trial-and-error — tasting various plants — to identify the toxic ones.

Many soldiers lost their lives due to poisoning while trying to distinguish safe from poisonous plants. Zhang Side, a Red Army soldier who was commemorated in writing by Chairman Mao, once fainted after boldly tasting a poisonous plant during the Long March and nearly died.

Cheng Qixue, a veteran Red Army soldier who had been involved in the revolution for decades, believed that the hardest time in his life was during the grassland crossing:

“I don’t know how many people died. After crossing the snow mountains and grasslands, my skin had peeled off entirely, and I had lost all my hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes. It took two years for them to slowly grow back.”

“The worst off were the rear units. Because tens of thousands of Red Army soldiers had already crossed the grasslands, the barely edible wild vegetables and tree bark had been used up. The rear units couldn’t even find those. The conditions were so harsh that many soldiers, utterly exhausted and starving, collapsed from fatigue and hunger. Some simply sat down and never got up again, sacrificing their lives right there on the grasslands.”

Some were too tired and had to fall behind. Yuan Lin, a veteran Red Army soldier who was responsible for helping stragglers, once said:“There were too many stragglers. We managed to take in hundreds of them each day. At night, we’d sleep in groups of three or five, leaning against one another. But when we woke up the next morning and gave them a push, many were already cold and lifeless.”

Because so many Red Army soldiers had sacrificed their lives, later units found that they didn’t even need road signs to move forward — the bodies of fallen comrades along the path served as natural markers.

The First Front Army and the Fourth Front Army, which crossed the grasslands first, suffered heavy casualties. A year later, the Second Front Army also faced significant losses when they crossed.

Chen Hao, who served as the deputy political commissar of the 4th Regiment of the 2nd Division of the 2nd Red Army Corps during the crossing, recalled that out of the 1,500 troops in his regiment, fewer than 700 made it out of the grasslands. In other words, over half of an entire Red Army regiment was lost during the crossing.

Today, over 70 years have passed since the Red Army crossed the grasslands. Only a few dozen veterans are still alive, and among them, even fewer actually crossed the grasslands. It can be said that the number of Red Army soldiers who personally experienced that extremely tragic and arduous chapter of history is dwindling.

Although the veterans are passing away one by one, their spirit lives on. So, what about the grasslands — Songpan Grassland — which caused so many casualties during the Long March? How are they now?

In fact, although Songpan Grassland is located on the edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and at a high altitude, its natural resources are actually quite abundant. As the world’s largest plateau marsh wetland, it not only boasts rich vegetation but is also home to more than ten species of second-class nationally protected animals such as black storks, white storks, golden eagles, and sika deer. There are also thousands of plant species. Therefore, with proper scientific development, this land could truly turn from waste into wealth.

And indeed, New China has done just that. The biggest cause of casualties during the Red Army’s crossing was undoubtedly the swamps. To solve this problem, the water in the grasslands had to be drained. Therefore, after the founding of the People’s Republic, in order to fully develop this land, a large number of experts were mobilized to manage and reclaim the Songpan Grassland.

By constructing drainage ditches and dredging rivers, they channeled the vast amounts of stagnant water in the grasslands into nearby lakes, thereby reducing the marshes and moisture levels and restoring the Songpan Grassland to a normal grassy state.

On the other hand, by planting a large amount of moisture-absorbing, livestock-friendly grass, they further reduced the number of swamps and stabilized the soil.

After initially solving these problems, large-scale agricultural cultivation began, and areas unsuitable for farming were used for grazing livestock. Thus, the grasslands that once claimed the lives of over 20,000 Red Army soldiers were transformed from a deadly hazard into fertile land. It is believed that this transformation would bring solace to the soldiers who sacrificed their lives here: the New China they fought and died for is becoming better and better.