DAILY | HONG KONG EDITION Tuesday, April 27, 2021 | 17 LIFE Bridge of heroes spans history

Crossing’s significance in red lore has turned the area into a popular attraction, Huang Zhiling reports in Luding, .

ince March, the number of tourists visiting the Luding PATH TO GLORY Bridge in the Ganzi Tibetan PathMAPPING to glory in PROGRESS SSichuan province has been increasing. “Each day, between 1,000 and hard, 18 remain blank, their names 2,000 people arrive. For safety con­ unknown forever.” cerns, only between 80 and 100 peo­ When Mao met Edgar Snow, the ple are permitted to be on the bridge American journalist who wrote the at the same time,” says Li Yuanjiao, an book Red Star over China in Yan’an administrator in charge of the bridge. in 1936, he said the Red Army’s forced The surge in the number of tourists crossing of was the most has much to do with the upcoming important event in the . 100th anniversary of the founding of If the forced crossing had failed, the Communist Party of China on the Red Army might have been July 1, as the bridge reminds people of wiped out, reads an exhibit in the its important historical moments. museum with this quote from Mao. Every Chinese person has learned The Square is less of the bridge’s importance from his­ than a minute walk from the east tory books at a young age. During bank of the bridge and is the center the Long March 86 years ago, the of the seat. When bridge was crucial to the survival of night falls, the square is crowded the CPC­led Red Army. with women dancing in groups. The Long March began as a During the day, visitors can see Lud­ retreat from Ruijin in Jiangxi prov­ ing Bridge flanked by two highways ince where the Provisional Central from a distance. Government of the Soviet Republic Built in 1706 during the reign of of China was set up in 1931. Qing Emperor Kangxi, the entrance The central Soviet area had to be has the words Luding Bridge in the abandoned in 1934 after the Red calligraphy of the emperor. Army failed to break through the It was the only bridge crossing one­year­long fifth campaign Dadu River in ancient times, and it launched by Kuomintang leader was an important link on the ancient Chiang Kai­shek. Tea Horse Road. Porters carrying tea Chiang built blockhouses with to Tibetan­inhabited areas had to machine guns to block all routes out cross the bridge. of the area. But the Red Army man­ As so many porters passed the aged to find a way out of the blockade. bridge, holes drilled with sticks used Initially, the evacuation of 86,000 to support them can be seen on its people was in shambles. Disorga­ west bank. nized and ill­equipped, the first lap The 81­km­long Luding county of the Long March was accom­ section of Dadu River now has 23 plished at an enormous cost, with bridges — 19 highway bridges and the army fighting every inch of the four cable suspension bridges. way. Some 50,000 soldiers lost their As locals have convenient trans­ lives in the Battle of the Xiangjiang portation facilities, it takes them only River at the junction of Hunan prov­ three hours to drive from Luding ince and today’s Guangxi Zhuang Bridge to Anshunchang. But local autonomous region. farmers still retain the tradition of At an important meeting in Zunyi peddling fruits in the streets. in Guizhou province, Chairman As it is the red cherry harvest sea­ emerged as the leader. Top: People dressed in Red Army uniforms cross the Luding Bridge in the Ganzi Tibetan autonomous prefecture in Sichuan province. son, farmers selling cherries in bam­ The march was transformed from a Above left: The Luding Bridge Monument with inscriptions by former leader Deng Xiaoping. Above middle: Sun Guangjun, former chairman boo baskets are ubiquitous. One flight in disarray into a call to arms of the Luding county committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, tells visitors about the history of the Luding Bridge. kilogram of cherries is sold for only against Japanese aggression. It also Above right: A woman in Luding county sells cherries on the west bank of the Luding Bridge. PHOTOS BY HUANG LERAN / FOR CHINA DAILY 10 yuan ($1.50) on average. led to a base in Yan’an in Shaanxi Because cherry trees are in differ­ province via Sichuan. ent parts of the mountainous county, Going northwest, the Long March­ Crossing it was to be the single most save his soldiers from death, he Sun Guangjun, former chairman the cover of cannons and machine people in Luding have cherries until ers slowly moved toward their desti­ critical action of the Long March. went to the Qing military camp, of the Luding county committee of guns from the temple, 22 soldiers June when the fruit on the high nation. Brilliant maneuvers threw Leaving the Yi area, the Red Army pledging to sacrifice his own life. the Chinese People’s Political Con­ clung to the iron chains of the mountains is ripe, says Luo Chukai, the Kuomintang troops off the scent. soldiers seized the Kuomintang­ While 4,000 Taiping soldiers were sultative Conference, says the sol­ bridge, laying planks on it under an information officer with the Lud­ The Red Army advanced, doubled controlled Anshunchang Ferry in sent away by the Qing military, diers marched a gruesome and intense machine gun fire from ing county committee of the CPC. back, wheeled round and resumed , Sichuan, and found some 2,000 were killed and Shi him­ exhausting 120 km in a single day on Kuomintang troops on the other A cherry festival made its debut in its forward thrust. In May 1935, the four boats. self was sent to the Sichuan provin­ May 28, 1935. side of the bridge. the county on April 17, drawing visi­ army reached the Sichuan border. Chiang had hoped that cial capital of to be At 6 am the next day, they reached With several soldiers becoming tors from different parts of the coun­ The route passed through the Anshunchang would be the site the sentenced to death. the west bank of the bridge on Dadu injured and falling into the fero­ try to taste the fruit and walk on region of the ethnic . They Red Army would repeat the tragedy A monument on Chunxi Road, River and found the planks had cious Dadu River, they crawled Luding Bridge. were persuaded into granting the Red of Shi Dakai, one of the brilliant gen­ which is the busiest commercial been removed from the bridge and ahead on the planks they had laid, Guo Yurong, a rural resort owner, Army a safe passage through their erals of the Taiping Rebellion which street in Chengdu, is at the site only 13 iron chains remained. firing gunshots and launching a tor­ says all the 31 star­related rural mountainous homeland thanks to almost toppled the where Shi died from a thousand Kuomintang troops were conver­ rent of grenades until they finally hotels and resorts in the county are Red Army commander Liu Bocheng. (1644­1911), the last feudal dynasty sword slashes. ging on the east bank to cut the Red took control of the east bank. full of visitors tasting cherries as well The native Sichuanese convinced the in China. When the Red Army came to Army soldiers off. Seizure of the “Today, people only know the names as fresh local dishes made of chicken, Yi chieftain that the Red Army aimed In May 1863, Shi and his soldiers Dadu River that same month 72 bridge on May 29 became a heroic of four soldiers though many others bacon, beans and edible wild herbs. at peaceful coexistence with, not reached Anshunchang after enter­ years later, the current was too swift incident of a story filled with heroes. sacrificed their lives in ensuring bat­ Each resort has cherry trees and oppression of, ethnic groups. ing Sichuan from neighboring Yun­ and the progress of ferrying the sol­ “Victory is life, defeat is certain tles,” says Sun, an expert in CPC history. visitors can pick the fruit from trees Liu swore blood brotherhood nan province. diers in four boats was too slow. death,” said Red Army general Peng “Twenty­two pillars stand in the and eat it free of charge and to their with the Yi chieftain, sealing his Due to the sudden surge in the Mao convened a meeting which Dehuai. Luding Bridge Memorial Museum hearts’ content, she says. oath in the tribal tradition with a water level of Dadu River because of decided to seize the Kuomintang­ The Red Army controlled a tem­ in honor of the 22 brave men. While drink of chicken blood. a rainstorm, Shi and his men were controlled Luding Bridge 160 kilo­ ple on the west bank which is much four of the pillars are engraved with Contact the writer at The next hurdle was Dadu River. blocked in the south of the river. To meters away. higher than the east bank. Under the names of those who battled so [email protected] Grassland with biting past now filled with flora, fauna

By HUANG ZHILING Most of the Red Army soldiers Just 3 km from Dengchigou Cath­ had no experience navigating icy olic Church is the Mention of the Long March terrain and their footwear were Cultural Publicity and reminds people of the odyssey of the cloth shoes or straw sandals. Education Center which covers Red Army soldiers climbing the It was June, but a blizzard swept more than 20,000 square meters snowy mountains and crossing the through the heights and the sol­ and houses two residents — 28­year­ dangerous grasslands. diers’ thin clothing was quickly old male panda Meng Xi and “The Red Army soldiers climbed soaked. The biting cold and great 29­year­old female panda Chuan eight snowy mountains and the difficulty in breathing brought Xing. Songpan Grasslands, all of which havoc. The grasslands are vibrant in are in Aba,” says Jiang Zuquan, an From the foot to Jiajin’s last April as migratory birds have information officer with the Aba peak, several hundred people returned, including flocks of black­ prefecture committee of the Com­ passed away during the 40­kilome­ mander approached, he found that necked cranes that have started to munist Party of China, in the Aba ter hike. They sat down to take a they were not breathing, reads a travel back in early March to breed Tibetan and Qiang autonomous rest but could never stand up passage from the book on the Long and raise young birds. prefecture in Sichuan. again, Dong Biwu, a Long March March. More than 3,000 meters above sea Soon after passing the Luding veteran, told American journalist In present time, both Jiajin and level, the Flower Lake in the grass­ Bridge in the Ganzi Tibetan autono­ Agnes Smedley in Yan’an, Shaanxi the grasslands appeal to visitors lands is frequented by visitors. It got mous prefecture, the Red Army sol­ province, in 1937. Both Jiajin Mountain and the Songpan Grasslands, where the Red with pandas and stunningly beauti­ its name because of the variety of diers climbed Jiajin, the first snowy Located at the junction of the Army soldiers climbed the snowy mountains and crossed the ful natural scenery. blossoming flowers in and by the mountain. Qinghai­ Plateau and Sichuan dangerous grasslands, appeal to today’s visitors with pandas or The West learned about the giant lake in late June and early July. Jiajin, which is more than 4,000 Basin, the Songpan Grasslands, or stunningly beautiful natural scenery. PHOTOS BY HUANG LERAN / FOR CHINA DAILY panda in 1869 from Jean Pierre Visiting the Flower Lake is like meters above sea level, is covered Zoige Marsh, is the largest plateau Armand David, a French missionary going from the mortal to the immor­ with snow all year round and has wetland in the world. working for the Dengchigou Catho­ tal world, says Yi Feng, a 57­year­old very thin air. The mountain has Covering about 15,200 square times, a soldier got stuck and sleeping, sitting with their backs lic Church in Jiajin. local Tibetan. The crystal­clear capricious weather, and there were kilometers, the grasslands spanning disappeared in the mire before fel­ resting against each other. At day­ When he had tea at a local hunter’s water in the lake is filled with all no people or roads on it. According Songpan, Hongyuan and Zoige low soldiers tried to pull him out break, many were found to have per­ home, he saw the skin of a giant pan­ kinds of water plants which emit to a book on the Long March pub­ counties in the Aba prefecture are with a puttee. ished. da for the first time. Suspecting it to fresh fragrance into the air. lished by the Party History Press, covered with flowers in August. But The temperature could be as high A squad of soldiers had slept in a be a new animal species, he had the Covering 213,333 hectares, the the weather could change from lying behind the beautiful scenery as 30 C during the day. But by night, rainstorm in the open air. When it hunter capture a live panda, made its Flower Lake, which is a wetland, is being cloudy to sunny, rainy to was peril. the temperature would drop to was time for breakfast, the company skin into a specimen and mailed it to home to the yellow duck, black­ snowy, and raining hailstones to In some sections of the grass­ around 0 C. Soldiers had to place commander shouted but none of the Musee d’Histoire Naturelle’s necked crane, gull, marmot, hare being windy. lands, water was knee­deep. Some­ some grass on the wet land before them responded. When the com­ Henri Milne Edwards in Paris. and plateau fish.