Former Site of Xinhua Daily’s Minsheng Road Sales Office

　　The former site of the Xinhua Daily’s Minsheng Road sales office is located on the north side of the middle section of Minsheng Road, Yuzhong District, Chongqing. Built in the 1930s, the building covers a floor area of 274 square meters and was originally constructed by Sichuan Juxingcheng Bank. In August 1940, the Xinhua Daily’s sales office at No. 12 West 3rd Street in Chongqing was bombed by Japanese aircraft. Through various channels and overcoming the unreasonable obstruction by the Kuomintang authorities, the Xinhua Daily rented this three-story building located on Chongqing’s then “cultural street” to serve as its sales and office space. It moved in and began operations on October 27 of the same year, continuing until February 22, 1946, when it was smashed by Kuomintang thugs.

　　Above the entrance and on the front wall of the sales office were plaques bearing the four large Chinese characters “Xinhua Daily,” inscribed by Yu Youren, a veteran statesman of the Kuomintang. The ground floor housed the sales office, covering an area of about sixty square meters. The second floor served as the office space for the sales department, where departments such as the library, advertising, distribution, and mail-order sections all worked. After the Southern Anhui Incident, as the Kuomintang’s repression intensified, leaders of the Communist Party’s Southern Bureau such as Zhou Enlai and Dong Biwu often held secret meetings and conversations with progressives from various sectors in Chongqing and leaders of democratic parties in the reception room on the second floor to facilitate communication. The third floor was used as the urban office and residence of Pan Zinian, the president of Xinhua Daily, as well as temporary housing for reporters, and lodging for the sales office staff, paperboys, and delivery personnel.

　　The Xinhua Daily’s sales office operated here for nearly six years, distributing thousands of progressive publications and making significant contributions to the Communist Party of China’s propaganda efforts during the War of Resistance Against Japan and the early stages of the Liberation War. On February 22, 1946, after this site was destroyed by Kuomintang thugs, the Xinhua Daily’s sales office moved to No. 39 Dexing Lane at Xinglu and continued its work there until it was sealed off by the Kuomintang authorities in Chongqing on February 28, 1947.

　　In 1974, the Chongqing Municipal People’s Government designated the ground floor as a memorial site, and in 1982, the entire building was placed under the administration of the Hongyan Revolutionary Memorial Hall. After comprehensive restoration and meticulous reconstruction, it was officially opened to the public in October 1986. This historical site was twice listed as a provincial-level cultural relic protection unit by the Sichuan Provincial People’s Government in 1964 and 1980.

　　Source: Chongqing Hongyan Cultural Development Management Center Author: Liu Liqun