Former Site of the Zhuyuanyong Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Unit

Former Site of the Zhuyuanyong Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Unit

The Former Site of the Zhuyuanyong Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Unit is a classic red tourism attraction.

In Zhuyuan Village, Xintang, there is a two-courtyard large house with a big tree known locally as the “Fugui Zi Tree” growing right in the center. This is the former site of the Zhuyuanyong Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Unit in Zengcheng. The house where the guerrilla unit’s site is located was originally a village academy, about 150 square meters in size and over 200 years old. At that time, the area around the house was farmland, and it used to be a stopover point frequented by the anti-Japanese guerrilla fighters. Ruan Haitian also once lived here. Next to the large house was the kitchen of the guerrilla unit’s former site. Above the kitchen door was a small “platform.” Because of its relatively high position, the anti-Japanese guerrilla fighters used it as a sentry post. The sentries stood on it to keep watch for the guerrilla unit and observe the movements of the Japanese army. There is a local saying in Zengcheng: “Marry a girl to Zhuyuanyong, where you’ll get fresh fish, fresh meat, and fresh shrimp, and in March, huge and luscious lychees.” This refers to the especially famous and delicious lychees of Zhuyuan Village in Zengcheng. However, many people may not know that in this lychee-famous village area, there was once an active anti-Japanese guerrilla unit during the war—the Zhuyuanyong Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Unit, which was led in part by Ruan Haitian from the village.

The Zhuyuan Village area has always been a military stronghold. Nearby, there is a major overland highway connecting Guangzhou to eastern Guangdong and the Guangzhou–Kowloon Railway linking Guangzhou to Hong Kong. By water, one can travel along the Dong River to Huizhou, Guangzhou, and even Hong Kong, making this a strategic throat area for eastern Guangzhou’s transportation and a key military location for attacking or defending Guangzhou. When the Japanese army invaded South China and landed at Daya Bay, they divided their forces to guard the railways and highways, setting up numerous strongholds along the routes. As a result, this area also became an important site for the guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines carried out by the anti-Japanese people's armed forces. To strike against the Japanese army, Ruan Haitian and others established the Xiancun Brigade and the Yayao Brigade (i.e., the Zhuyuan Village area) under the name of the “Guangdong People’s Anti-Japanese Self-Defense Corps” along the Guangzhou–Kowloon Railway. Later, based on these two brigades, they formed the Zengcheng Third District Regular Troops and the Yayao Regular Troops of the Guangdong People’s Anti-Japanese Self-Defense Corps. These were the first formal armed forces organized and led by the Chinese Communist Party in the Zenglong region—and they formed the main force of the Zhuyuanyong Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Unit.

Xintang Town: Xintang Town is an industrial and commercial hub in the southern part of Zengcheng City and a central town in Guangdong Province. In 2004, when Zengcheng implemented an adjustment to its township-level administrative divisions, Xintang Town took jurisdiction over the administrative areas of the original Xintang, Yonghe, Xiancun (excluding Xiagang Village), Shapu, and Ningxi towns. In 2005, Yonggang, Hefeng, Xianjiang, and Xinzhuang villages were incorporated into Luogang District of Guangzhou. Xintang Town currently administers 16 neighborhood committees and 71 village committees, covering a total area of 251.51 square kilometers, with a total population of over 400,000 (including 210,000 registered residents and 190,000 non-registered residents).

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