Bijie Martyrs' Cemetery

Bijie Martyrs' Cemetery

Bijie Martyrs' Cemetery is a cultural tourism site and a classic red tourism destination.

Bijie Martyrs' Cemetery

Bijie Martyrs' Cemetery is located on Phoenix Mountain in the northwest of Bijie City, nestled against mountains and beside water, covering an area of 87 mu. Facing the Daotian River and backed by Wenbi Mountain, the site boasts picturesque scenery with lush greenery, birdsong, and fragrant flowers. With a forest coverage rate of 95%, it serves not only as a scenic attraction within Bijie’s urban area but also as a patriotic education base.

The cemetery was first constructed in 1956 and completed in 1958. In recent years, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Provincial Department of Civil Affairs, the Regional Civil Affairs Bureau, as well as the Bijie Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government have allocated funds multiple times to carry out large-scale expansion and renovation of the cemetery, making it even more solemn and dignified.

Currently, the cemetery is the resting place of 137 martyrs, including Xia Xi, Director of the Political Department of the Sixth Red Army Corps of the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army, Ruan Junchen, Commander of the Sichuan-Yunnan-Guizhou Border Anti-Japanese Vanguard of the Red Army, as well as Zhao Wenhai, Ouyang Chongting, Tao Shuqing, Xi Daming, Fan Jianzhang, and others. The “Tomb of Comrade Xia Xi” within the cemetery was personally inscribed by General Xiao Ke. On both sides of Xia Xi’s tomb are inscribed steles written by comrades such as Xie Guangzhong, Xia Zhenlei (Xia Xi’s son), and Miao Zhengyuan. Along the central path from the cemetery entrance to the Revolutionary Martyrs Monument, there are also steles inscribed by former leaders of the underground party in Bijie and the Second and Sixth Red Army Corps, including Deng Zhige, Qin Tianzhen, Xu Jiansheng, and Liao Hansheng. The cemetery is contiguous with Tianhe Park, the Xiaohe Natural Scenic Area, and the Wenbi Mountain Forest, offering a pleasant environment that attracts many visitors. Viewed from the road leading to the cemetery, one can see endless stretches of verdant pines and cypresses, blooming flowers, and lush trees—lush and vibrant as far as the eye can see. Every year during Qingming Festival, tens of thousands of residents in Bijie visit the cemetery to pay respects to the revolutionary martyrs and engage in revolutionary tradition education.

In 1987, with the approval of the People’s Government of Guizhou Province, Bijie Martyrs' Cemetery was designated as a provincial historical memorial site. In April 2001, it was approved by the State Council as a national key martyrs' memorial building protection unit and established as a “National Patriotic Education Base.”