Hunxikou Ferry Crossing

Hunxikou Ferry Crossing

The Hunxikou Ferry Crossing is a classic red tourism destination and a patriotic education base.

As the Red Army failed to eliminate the pursuing enemy at the Battle of Qinggangpo, it faced a critical situation with enemies on both flanks and backed against the river. On January 28, 1935, the Central Committee held an emergency meeting at Aihua Shop in Tucheng, deciding to change the marching route and cross the Chishui River to escape the strong enemy forces. The Military Commission assigned Zhou Enlai the responsibility of constructing a pontoon bridge by dawn the next day. Consequently, Zhou Enlai personally led staff officers to oversee the operation. Engineer troops were tasked with surveying and selecting the bridge site, organizing manpower, mobilizing local residents, and gathering large numbers of boats, wooden doors, bamboo poles, ropes, and other materials needed for the bridge. They worked through the night to build it. According to Comrade Lü Liping, the duty operations officer at the Military Commission headquarters that evening: “It was an extremely tense and anxiety-filled night. The front lines echoed with continuous gunfire and booming artillery, while the Chishui River rushed with turbulent waves. The vital pontoon bridge, crucial to the safety of the entire army, was being erected under immense difficulty. Comrade Enlai, who hadn’t slept all night, took me to the construction site three times to supervise.” By the early hours of January 29, with the support of local boatmen in Tucheng, two pontoon bridges were finally completed—one at Hunxikou upstream and the other at Caijiatuo downstream of Tucheng. Led by Mao Zedong and Zhu De, the Third and Fifth Red Armies, along with the Central Military Commission Column, crossed the Chishui River from these crossings. By the morning of January 29, the Red Army had completed its first crossing of the Chishui River at Hunxikou upstream, Caijiatuo downstream, and Yuangou Shatuo, moving lightly and setting the stage for the “Four Crossings of the Chishui River,” a strategic maneuver during the Long March. In 1980, the Xishui County Government erected the Tucheng Ferry Monument on Huoxing Mountain overlooking the Hunxikou Ferry. After the first crossing, from February 18 to 21, the Red Army crossed the Chishui River again at the border area between Sichuan and Guizhou — at Taipingdu and Erlangtan, as well as Lindan in Xishui — re-entering Guizhou, seizing Lou shanguan, recapturing Zunyi, and achieving their first victory since the Long March. Subsequently, from March 17 to 18, the Red Army performed a feint third crossing at Maotai to distract the enemy. Then, on March 21 to 22, they made their fourth crossing at Taipingdu, Erlangtan, Meitanzi, and other locations, staging a diversionary attack on Guiyang, cleverly crossing the Jinsha River, breaking out of the enemy’s encirclement and suppression, and achieving a great victory in the strategic transfer.

The Hunxikou Ferry Crossing in Tucheng lies along the premium route “Guiyang–Zunyi–Renhuai–Xishui–Chishui–Luzhou,” situated in the heart of the Sichuan-Guizhou-Chongqing tourism “Golden Triangle.” Nearby attractions include China Danxia Valley in Xishui, Mount Simian in Chongqing, the Chishui National Scenic Area in Guizhou, and Mount Huangjing National Forest Park in Sichuan. Other nearby sites include the Four Crossings of the Chishui River Memorial, the Qinggangpo Battle Site, the historic Red Tucheng Ancient Town, and the Xiaoba Ecological Scenic Area.