Memorial Hall of the Western Route Army

Memorial Hall of the Western Route Army

The Memorial Hall of the Western Route Army is a classic red tourism destination and a patriotic education base.

Memorial Hall of the Western Route Army

Location: It is located on the side of the highway at the entrance of Zanbuhu Village, Chahan Dusi Township, Xunhua County, Qinghai Province. The location is easily accessible, with a direct route via the third-grade asphalt road from the county town to Gongboxia, located 18 kilometers from the county seat and 123 kilometers from Xining City. It is a red tourism site.

Introduction

The memorial hall faces south and is oriented northward, measuring 46.1 meters in width from east to west and 44 meters in depth from north to south. It was funded and constructed in 1987 by the Haidong Administrative Office of Qinghai Province. The courtyard is planted with 17 lush cypress trees.

The main gate of the memorial hall is a simple concrete structure with a tiled facade and two iron-barred gates. The lintel of the gate is inlaid with the bronze characters “Memorial Hall of the Western Route Army.” About ten meters past the gate stands the Monument to the Western Route Army. It is a concrete structure with a cement finish, featuring a circular base with steps on all four sides, a square main body, and a pointed top crowned with an iron five-pointed star. The monument is 11 meters tall. The front of the monument bears the inscription “The Spirit of the Red Army Shines Through the Ages,” signed by the People’s Government of Qinghai Province. The eastern side reads “Soul Tied to Kunlun, Majestic as the Rivers and Mountains,” signed by the Qinghai Military District. The northern side states “Unyielding Spirit Endures,” signed by the Xunhua County Party Committee. The western side is inscribed with “The Spirit of the Red Army Flows Like the Yellow River; Heroic Deeds Live Forever with the Jishi Mountains,” signed by the People’s Government of Xunhua County. Behind the monument is a simple 2.3-meter-high stele commemorating the experiences of dispersed Western Route Army soldiers. This concrete structure details their hardships—such as land reclamation, logging, road building, and house construction—during their internment in a prisoner-of-war camp in the Zanbuhu area after being captured following the defeat in the Hexi Corridor Campaign. It describes their inhumane treatment, resistance, and unyielding spirit. Further back are three simple concrete display rooms. On the wall inside the main room are photos of 24 Western Route Army soldiers who ended up settling in Xunhua in their later years. In appearance and demeanor, they had fully integrated as elderly Sala people. During that dark period, they were taken in by kind-hearted Sala villagers, some even becoming sons-in-law or adopted relatives, which enabled them to survive. In recent years, having reached their eighties, they have passed away one after another, with only two remaining today. On the left side are displayed a pair of rocking chairs and a single table made by the soldiers for local residents, with a five-pointed star prominently carved on the top of the rocking chair’s backrest. On the right side are the Party flag and the Party oath, along with inscriptions by former national leaders Li Xiannian (“The soldiers of the Western Route Army of the Red Army will live forever in our hearts”) and Xu Xiangqian (“The spirit of the martyrs of the Western Route Army will be immortalized in history”).