Former Site of the Fifth Seven Cadre School

　　The former site of the Fifth Seven Cadre School of the State Planning Commission (Xihua Unit) is now the Xihua County Horticultural Farm. It is located 2 kilometers west of Xihua County, at the heart of the western specialty zone. It borders Huangqiao and Honghua townships to the north and south respectively, connects to Provincial Highway S102 (Zhengzhou Road) leading directly to Zhengzhou, and to Provincial Highway S329 (Xihua-Luohe Road) leading straight to Luohe. To the west lies the nationally renowned State-Owned Huangfanqu Farm, while Industrial Fourth Road provides direct access to the county seat.

　　In September 1969, the State Economic Commission responded to the “Fifth Seven Directive” by establishing a presence in Xihua. The 52nd Farm allocated 1,949 mu of land and 102 rooms of the Liuzhuang Squadron to the State Economic Commission to set up the school, then known as the State Economic Commission Fifth Seven Cadre School. In June 1970, following an institutional reform that dissolved the State Economic Commission and integrated it into the State Planning Commission, the school was renamed the State Planning Commission Xihua Fifth Seven Cadre School. In 1975, the State Planning Commission’s Xiangfan Fifth Seven Cadre School merged here, operating jointly with over ten entities including the Ministry of Materials, the Political Department of Industry and Transport, the General Office of the State Council, and the Ministry of Geology and Mineral Resources. After 1979, in accordance with the "State Council Notice on Issues Concerning the Closure of the Fifth Seven Cadre Schools" (State Council Document [1979] No. 40), the school was shut down. The State Planning Commission handed over management to the North China Petroleum Bureau of the Ministry of Geology and Mineral Resources, and it was renamed the State Planning Commission Agricultural and Sideline Production Base and the North China Petroleum Bureau Agricultural and Sideline Production Base. With evolving circumstances, after joint consultations among the State Planning Commission, the Ministry of Geology and Mineral Resources, the North China Petroleum Bureau, and the People's Government of Xihua County, the entire facility was transferred to the Xihua County People's Government in May 1987 and has since been known as the Xihua County Horticultural Farm. In 2006, it was designated as a Provincial Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit. In 2013, it was named a Patriotic Education Demonstration Base (Batch 5) of Zhoukou City.

　　At its peak, the cadre school housed nearly 2,000 students who were managed under a military system modeled after army units. It was divided into five production squads, one logistics squad, and one school administration, with the first, third, and administrative squads located at the current site, the second squad 300 meters to the west, the fourth squad 600 meters to the southwest, and the fifth squad at the Huangfanqu Farm. The school administration included a Revolutionary Committee, a Military Control Committee, a Party Group, a Political Work Group, an Office Group, a Production Group, a Special Case Group, a Finance Department, a Security Department, and a Youth League Branch. The first and third squads managed orchards, the second, fourth, and fifth squads managed farmland, and the logistics squad oversaw machinery, electricity, infrastructure, and supply services. Each squad had its own platoons and squads. At the time, cadres from more than ten national ministries came here to study, labor, and live, and over forty senior leaders at the vice-ministerial level or above emerged from this school.

　　The former site of the State Planning Commission Xihua Fifth Seven Cadre School covers nearly 200 acres, with 1,400 acres of arable land and 602 buildings. Major surviving structures include a full-body ceramic statue of Chairman Mao, the former residence of [a notable figure], production workshops, a workers’ auditorium, a workers’ bathhouse, a library, a shop, warehouses, a water tower, wells, a canteen, a school, a kindergarten, dormitories, and office buildings. Documentary materials include salary cards of hundreds of cadres such as [names], school bulletins, meeting minutes, various documents, supply cards, seals, and more. Production tools consist of winnowing machines, threshers, and water pumps. Household items include pots, pans, and earthenware jars, along with the pine and cypress trees planted at the time. It is a representative historical and cultural heritage site. The site’s large area, wealth of relics, and high degree of preservation are rare in China.

　　Source: Office of the People's Government of Xihua County