Nansing’an Patriotic Education Base

Nansing’an Patriotic Education Base

The Nansing’an Patriotic Education Base serves as a patriotic education site.

The Nansing’an Patriotic Education Base is located 25 kilometers from the urban area of Arxan City, a nationally recognized outstanding tourism destination, and 10 kilometers from the Arxan Forest Culture Scenic Area — Xing’an Forest Village. It is situated right next to S203 Highway. In 1996, it was approved as a key cultural relics protection unit of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. In 2005, it was named the “Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region–Level Patriotic Education Base” by the Regional Civilization Office.

The Nansing’an Patriotic Education Base consists of parts such as the Nansing’an Tunnel and the Nansing’an Tunnel Fortress. It is a military facility built by the Japanese army in the northeastern region of China and stands as one of the crucial pieces of evidence of Japan’s invasion of China.

In May 1939, confident in its national and military strength, Japan attacked Soviet forces in the Nomonhan wilderness between Inner Mongolia and Mongolia, triggering the Nomonhan War. The Nansing’an defensive works were constructed by the Kwantung Army of Japan between June 1935 and June 1937 to defend the southern Xing’an region and prepare for the Nomonhan conflict.

The Nansing’an Tunnel is located within the territory of Arxan on the Baicheng–Arxan Railway and runs from east to west. The Baicheng–Arxan Railway was built between August 1929 and November 1939. As a key section of this railway, the Nansing’an Tunnel stretches 3,218.5 meters in length, making it the longest railway tunnel in the region. The mountain rock surrounding the tunnel is mostly hard granite, and over half of the more than 3,000-meter-long tunnel was dug manually by Chinese laborers at the time. There is a guard fortress at each of the tunnel’s northern and southern exits. The Nansing’an Tunnel Fortress covers a construction area of over 600 square meters, has five floors, and is fully equipped internally with duty rooms, power generation rooms, ammunition depots, dormitories, toilets, warehouses, washrooms, and bathhouses. The fortress is outfitted with over 100 firing holes on all four sides. On the mountains and beside the highway at the tunnel exits, more than 10 bunkers were also built. The firepower was cross-configured across the mountains and valleys, forming a comprehensive defense system. After Japan’s surrender, the Nansing’an Tunnel became a major transportation artery driving the economic development of the Arxan region.

After the defeat in the Nomonhan War in 1939, the Kwantung Army of Japan realized that the stretch from Arxan and Bailang through Wuchagou to Tuliemodou along the China-Mongolia border was of great strategic importance. Starting in 1940, they began constructing military fortresses in these areas. Among them, the Arxan Fortress was mainly built on the dominant peaks of key mountains along the China-Mongolia border, extending 10–40 kilometers in depth. Reinforced concrete shelters, bunkers, observation posts, underground passages, communication trenches, field fortifications, and barracks were constructed on the main peaks. Twelve surveillance posts were set up along the border with Outer Mongolia to monitor Mongolian military movements.

During the construction of the Nansing’an Tunnel and Fortress, the Kwantung Army of Japan forcibly recruited tens of thousands of laborers through deception, conscription, and capture. Due to the extremely harsh working conditions, poor living standards, and the wanton killings by Japanese soldiers, many laborers perished during their service. To maintain secrecy, the Japanese carried out mass slaughters of the laborers upon the completion of the military projects. During their occupation of the southern Xing’an region, the Japanese implemented brutal fascist rule and economic plunder, inflicting profound historical suffering on people of all ethnicities: they established the Xing’an South Provincial Government and various administrative bodies such as Banner Offices, Nutuks (districts), and Gachas (villages), placing real power in the hands of the Japanese to enforce colonial rule; they frenziedly exploited the region’s natural resources, with timber from the Greater Khingan Mountains being a primary target; they forcibly established youth corps and youth groups in elementary and middle schools, instilling fascist militarist ideology and conducting assimilation education among young people.

To this day, although the Nansing’an Tunnel and Fortress have stood for over 60 years, the facilities inside the fortress and items left behind by the Japanese remain remarkably well-preserved. Exhibits in the tunnel fortress include helmets and other items used by the Japanese. On important holidays such as “Youth Day,” “Children’s Day,” “Party Founding Day,” “Army Day,” and “National Day,” numerous students, soldiers, officials, and civilians visit the base for patriotic education. With the development of tourism in Arxan, the site now receives over 50,000 visitors annually. (Xing’an League Civilization Office)