Liulin Sanjiao Town Red Tourism Area

Liulin Sanjiao Town Red Tourism Area

The Sanjiao Town Red Tourism Area is located 37 kilometers southwest of Liulin County, bordering the Yellow River to the west. It got its name “Sanjiao” (meaning “Three Crossings”) as it lies between Zhongyang, Shilou counties and Qingjian County in Shaanxi Province. Covering an area of 2.1 square kilometers, it has long been known as a place “where drumbeats shake two provinces and roosters crow startle four counties.”

In February 1936, the Red Army crossed the Yellow River here during the eastward expedition, marking the beginning of its push eastward to resist Japanese aggression. Zhou Enlai visited this area and personally oversaw the establishment of the first red political power in Shanxi Province.

The scenic area includes the site where Martyr Liu Zhidan was killed in action, the Sanjiao Town Red Army Eastward Expedition Memorial Hall, the Pingshang Ferry Monument, and the relief sculpture depicting the Red Army’s heroic crossing of the Yellow River.

The site where Martyr Liu Zhidan was killed in action is located atop Aozidagē Peak in Dangjiacun Village, Sanjiao Town. The peak is flanked by mountains on the north and south, with the Yellow River ferry to the west, making it a strategically treacherous location. The mountaintop is no more than 100 meters long and less than 30 meters wide, a barren little red-earth hill. In 1993, the local government built a memorial pavilion at the site where Liu Zhidan died. In 1995, it was designated as a Shanxi Provincial Patriotic Education Base.

The Sanjiao Town Red Army Eastward Expedition Memorial Hall is housed in a traditional quadrangle courtyard that was once the site of the Soviet Revolutionary Committee—the first red political power in Shanxi Province (now part of Liulin County, formerly Zhongyang County). This site includes Zhou Enlai’s former office, Mao Zemin’s former office, exhibition rooms featuring artifacts related to Liu Zhidan and others, the recruitment office of the 30th Red Army, the site of the first red political power in Shanxi Province, and the grain collection office of the Red Army, totaling 14 exhibition rooms. There are over 500 revolutionary relics alone, including photos, letters, documents reviewed by hand, meeting minutes, and items left behind by the troops led by Martyr Liu Zhidan.

The Pingshang Ferry Monument and the Relief Sculpture of the Red Army’s Heroic Crossing of the Yellow River — On the evening of February 20, 1936, at 8 p.m., 25 brave soldiers from the 5th Regiment of the 2nd Division of the Red First Army Corps set out from eight small boats at Huashipan, below Goukou Village in Suide County, Shaanxi Province, heading toward Pingshang Village in Sanjiao Town, Liulin County, Shanxi Province, on the opposite bank. After landing at Pingshang Ferry, the 5th Regiment advanced straight into Sanjiao Town and completely annihilated one battalion of the Shanxi warlord army. Pingshang Ferry was the earliest landing site used by the Red Army during the eastward expedition. Leaders of the Red Army’s eastward expedition such as Peng Dehuai, Deng Xiaoping, and Zhou Enlai all crossed the river here. The relief sculpture of the Red Army’s crossing vividly depicts the historic moment of the brave crossing of the Yellow River, and inscriptions on the stone wall beside the sculpture provide an introduction to the Red Army’s eastward expedition.