Chanipi

Chanipi

Chanipi is located in Zhicun Town, Mengzi County. The name "Chanipi" means "unremarkable" in the Yi language. It is not far from Bisezhai, the junction of the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway and the first and only privately-owned railway in China, the Gebishi Railway. Bisezhai was the busiest and most vibrant railway station in modern Yunnan, as it served as a transfer hub for the two railways and was the place where the largest concentration of Yunnan's railway workers—about 2,000 at its peak—were based. The nearby Gejiu tin mines employed over 100,000 workers. As the vanguard of the working class, the Communist Party of China (CPC) focused its revolutionary activities in Yunnan on areas such as Mengzi and Gejiu. In August 1926, the Guangdong Regional Committee of the CPC dispatched Li Xin, a party member from Yunnan, back to his hometown to carry out work and establish the Yunnan Special Committee. Li Xin (1897–1920), courtesy name Jinshan, also known as Muzi, was a native of Longling. He entered Peking University in 1922, where he was influenced by the communist groups founded by Li Dazhao. Alongside Wang Desan and Wang Fusheng, he established the "Yunnan Reform Society" in Beijing and published progressive publications. He joined the CPC in 1925, returned to Yunnan in 1926 to establish underground party organizations, and led movements among workers and peasants. Unfortunately, he was arrested in Gejiu in April 1929 and was executed heroically in Mengzi the following May. Li Xin also conducted field investigations in Mengzi and Gejiu. After the breakdown of the first KMT-CPC cooperation in 1927, Long Yun, then Chairman of Yunnan Province, ordered a purge of communists, leading to widespread arrests and killings. As a result, the Yunnan Special Committee of the CPC decided to shift its focus to southern Yunnan, with Li Xin directly overseeing labor and peasant movements at the Gejiu mines and along the Gebishi Railway. In the summer of 1928, Du Tao, a native of Mengzi and CPC member, became the Secretary of the Southern Yunnan District Committee and actively carried out revolutionary activities in Mengzi. Du Tao (1901–1929), originally named Du Youju and also known as Du Tao or Tao Village, was a native of Mengzi, Yunnan. In 1919, he initiated the Patriotic Student Association at Mengzi Middle School and participated in the May Fourth Movement. He went to Beijing to study in 1924 and later enrolled at the South Manchuria Medical College. In 1926, he studied at the Guangzhou Peasant Movement Training Institute and joined the CPC. He later served as a member of the Southern Yunnan District Committee of the CPC, Secretary of the Mengzi County Committee, member of the Yunnan Provisional Committee, member of the Provincial Provisional Working Committee, and Secretary of the Southern Yunnan District Committee. On October 13 and 14, 1928, Du Tao and 16 other CPC members held the First Provincial Congress of the CPC in Chanipi. The congress passed nine resolutions, including the "Resolution of the First Provincial Congress of the CPC in Yunnan" and the "Resolution on the Current Situation in Yunnan and the Tasks of the Party," elected a provisional provincial committee leadership, decided to develop rural armed forces, and stage armed uprisings. After the meeting, two more party member training sessions were held, numerous important meetings convened, and the province’s first armed guerrilla unit under the leadership of the CPC Yunnan Provincial Committee was established. However, shortly after the meeting, Du Tao, Li Xin, Wu Cheng, Wang Desan, and others were successively arrested and executed, the CPC Yunnan Provincial Committee was disrupted, and the revolution entered a low tide. It was not until 1949 that the CPC re-established a party branch in Chanipi.

The site of the First Provincial Congress of the CPC in Yunnan was originally a thatched cottage belonging to the family of Li Kaiwen. It was destroyed in a fire. In 1991, it was restored to its original appearance and opened to the public. The structure features a single-eave, hanging-hip roof made of earth and wood, with a thatched roof and rammed-earth walls. It consists of one main room with three bays and an attached kitchen, covering a construction area of 99.5 square meters. In 1993, it was designated as a Yunnan Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Unit. Additionally, modern concrete buildings such as exhibition rooms were built around the site, displaying precious photos and cultural relics related to local party history that were collected from various sources.

Source: China Honghe Tourism Network