Ye Jianying Memorial Park

Ye Jianying Memorial Park

Ye Jianying Memorial Park is a national AAAA-level tourist attraction and a classic red tourism destination.

Ye Jianying Memorial Park is located in Huxing Village, Yan Yang Town, Meixian District, Meizhou City — the hometown of Marshal Ye Jianying. It is a national classic red tourism attraction and a national patriotic education demonstration base. The park combines the display of the great leader’s legacy, promotion of Hakka culture, and development of eco-tourism. Planning for the park began in 2004, took three years to complete, and the park officially opened on May 13, 2007. Covering a planned area of 482 acres, it is divided into a memorial scenic area, a cultural landscape area, an ecological forest area, and a tourism & leisure service area.

As one of China’s 100 classic red tourism destinations and one of Guangdong’s top three, Ye Jianying Memorial Park was expanded from the former protected site and patriotic education base — the Marshal’s former residence and memorial hall. Through integration, expansion, supporting facilities, and upgrades, the park now spans 482 acres with a total investment of 127 million yuan. It is organized into four functional zones: cultural landscape, memorial, tourism & leisure services, and ecological forest. The goal is to create a top-tier national red tourism destination that showcases the leader’s legacy, promotes Hakka culture, and supports eco-tourism.

Since groundbreaking on May 5, 2005, the project has received strong support from leaders at all levels, generous funding from all sectors of society, and active cooperation from local officials and residents, ensuring smooth progress. Construction is in its final stages, exhibition arrangements are largely complete, and trial exhibitions have begun. The park officially opened and was inaugurated on May 13, 2007, the 110th anniversary of Marshal Ye Jianying’s birth.

On the morning of May 13, 2007, Ye Jianying Memorial Park — a national classic red tourism attraction — was completed and officially opened. Located in Huxing Village, Yan Yang Town, Meixian District, Meizhou City, Guangdong Province, construction of the expanded park began on May 5, 2005. Covering 482 acres with a total investment of 150 million yuan, it was built to national 4A-level tourism standards and divided into four functional areas: cultural landscape, memorial, ecological forest, and tourism & leisure services. The park features Ye’s former residence, the Ye family ancestral hall, the Ye Jianying Memorial Hall, a memorial square, entrance plaza, inscribed wall plaza, spring well plaza, poetry grove plaza, stone carvings, pavilions, orchards, botanical gardens, viewing platforms, and a series of Hakka-style rural attractions. The memorial hall, with its geometric architecture, grand scale, and majestic presence, was named by former President Yang Shangkun. It houses four exhibition halls arranged under five major themes: “Youthful Ambition,” “Spring Well Bond,” “Turning the Tide,” “Ink & Heritage,” and “Return from Battles.” Over 600 images and texts from different periods of Ye’s life, 22 artworks, as well as a large collection of manuscripts, documents, and historical artifacts, vividly showcase the marshal’s noble revolutionary spirit, distinctive persona, and illustrious life. The park combines the display of the leader’s legacy with patriotic education, while promoting Hakka culture and green eco-tourism. In November 2008, it was rated as a national AAAA-level tourist attraction.

The former residence and memorial hall of Marshal Ye Jianying are located in Huxing Village, Yan Yang Town, Meixian District, Meizhou City — 33 kilometers from downtown Meizhou. Nestled against hills and near water with lush forests, this is where China’s great proletarian revolutionary and one of the Ten Marshals, Ye Jianying, was born on April 28, 1897, and spent his childhood and youth.

Many visitors to Ye’s former residence remark in awe: “Yanyang is a land of hidden dragons and crouching tigers.” Indeed, standing atop Yanyang’s highest peak — Wuzhi Peak — you can see two long rivers like white ribbons encircling an oval-shaped mountain that resembles a giant tiger lying at rest. This “giant tiger” is Huxing Village. Marshal Ye Jianying’s former residence is located at the foot of Huxing Mountain.

As Lenin aptly said: “Great revolutionary struggles produce great figures, enabling talents that were previously impossible to flourish.” Comrade Ye Jianying was precisely such a revolutionary, emerging from the great struggle and repeatedly playing pivotal roles at critical junctures in history.

After the passing of the great leader Marshal Ye Jianying in 1986, to commemorate him and ensure his brilliant thoughts and revolutionary achievements would endure, the government renovated his former residence, which was designated as a provincial cultural relics protection unit in 1989. In July 1987, construction also began on the Ye Jianying Memorial Hall to the left of the residence.

The memorial hall was completed on October 22, 1989. Former President Yang Shangkun personally inscribed its name, and over 200 dignitaries including former Vice President Wang Zhen, along with guests from home and abroad, attended the grand inauguration ceremony. The original building covered 1,560 square meters, later expanded by 1,800 square meters in 1994. A two-story modern garden-style structure, solemn and elegant, the second floor houses five exhibition rooms spanning 500 square meters with a 135-meter display line. These showcase 5 thematic sections and 20 topics covering Ye’s glorious life through cultural relics, photographs, inscriptions, documents, manuscripts, office supplies, and the traditional scholar’s tools. On the left side of the main entrance, surrounded by green cypresses and flowers, stands a 2-meter-tall bronze seated statue of Marshal Ye Jianying, sculpted by renowned Chinese artist Liu Huanzhang. The base bears an inscription composed by the CPC Central Committee for public veneration.

In 2004, the Meizhou city and Meixian district Party committees and governments decided to build Ye Jianying Memorial Park on the site of the former memorial hall. As one of China’s 100 classic red tourism attractions and one of Guangdong’s three red tourism destinations, the park’s construction was scheduled for completion in 2007. Planned as four functional zones — cultural landscape, memorial, tourism & leisure services, and ecological forest — the park aims to become a unique tourist destination that showcases the leader’s legacy, provides patriotic education, displays Hakka traditions, and develops eco-tourism.

Yanyang Town: Located in northeastern Meixian, Guangdong, Yanyang Town lies at the foot of Wuzhi Peak in the Lotus Mountain Range. It is under the jurisdiction of Meizhou’s Meixian District and is the hometown of Marshal Ye Jianying. The town governs 27 villages, 2 neighborhood committees, 279 villager groups, and has a population of 31,852. As the birthplace of Marshal Ye, Yanyang is situated at 116°20′ east longitude and 24°50′ north latitude in northeastern Meixian. It borders Yingya (Dabu), Sanxiang (Meixian), Bingcun, Baidu, and Songnan towns on the east, south, west, and north respectively. It lies 33 kilometers southwest of downtown Meizhou, 9 kilometers from Bingcun Town, and 16 kilometers from Songkou Town. Historically, Yanyang was mostly low-lying lakes and wetlands... [More details about Yanyang Town]++