6 | DISCOVER SHANXI Friday, March 26, 2021 CHINA DAILY Historical revolutionary sites an inspiration ahead of Party’s centenary

Route Army during the war. The Langyu Valley near Nangou village was a major battlefield dur­ ing the Hundred Regiments Offen­ sive. A museum and a memorial have been built on the site to remember the heroism, courage and Tourists and local dedication of the Eighth Route Army soldiers. people flock to learn of The local people are quite familiar hard­won victories of with the history and stories of the battles. When tourists come, they the past 100 years are pleased to be their guides, show­ ing them the battlefield sites and By YUAN SHENGGAO telling them stories that took place eight decades ago. As the 100th anniversary of the Yan Runhong, Party secretary of Communist Party of China Nangou village, said the Red tour­ approaches, enthusiasm for learn­ ism resources, including the battle ing the history of the CPC is growing sites, museum and historical stories among residents of North China’s are the “most vivid materials” for Shanxi province. From left: Calligraphers in Taiyuan express their best wishes for the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. the study of the Party’s history. In Shanxi, residents are keen on SHI XIAOBO / FOR CHINA DAILY University students in the city of Jinzhong visit an exhibition on the Party’s history. ZHANG QIAN / FOR CHINA DAILY “We are happy to welcome more studying the CPC’s history as they and more visitors to our village, hope to draw inspiration from the which shows people’s increasing Party’s development over the past the study of the Party’s history. are among the renowned bases for to guide people’s actions,” Lou said. soldiers in 115 regiments for an offen­ enthusiasm in learning the Party’s century and pass down the revolu­ Jiaxing in Zhejiang province is the CPC military forces during the Yangquan city in eastern Shanxi is sive against the Japanese invaders history,” Yan said. tionary DNA of the Party to future the city where the CPC was found­ war. located at the heart of Taihang from August to December in 1940. The village official said the Red generations, said Zhao Qi, an official ed on July 1, 1921; Jinggangshan, a Shanxi’s authorities launched the Mountains. It used to be an impor­ The Communist forces succeeded tourism resources are the most pre­ at the Shanxi Committee of the mountain in the east of Jiangxi campaign to study Party history on tant base for the Communist­led in destroying facilities that the Japa­ cious asset for villagers and tourists Communist Party of China. province is the place where Mao Feb 22. Eighth Route Army during the war. nese were using for supplying its alike. “When we are admiring the Red Zedong created the first military Lou Yangsheng, Party secretary of Nangou village in Jiujie township, aggression in China, including rail­ “On one hand, our villagers get — or revolutionary — spirit in base for the CPC in the 1920s; and Shanxi, hosted the opening ceremony Yangquan, used to be one of the ways, highways, bridges, tunnels, coal increasing revenues from the grow­ such famous places, like Jiaxing, Yan’an in the north of Shaanxi of the campaign on that day, requir­ important sites for the Hundred mines and factories, and attacking ing number of visitors,” Yan said. Jinggangshan and Yan’an, we province was home to the CPC ing Party members and residents to Regiments Offensive, a major cam­ Japanese garrisons. About 970 kilo­ “On the other, Red tourism is also a should be proud of the fact that headquarters from 1935 during draw wisdom and strength from the paign of the Eighth Route Army divi­ meters of railways were destroyed, kind of spiritual wealth that makes Shanxi is never short of its revolu­ the War of Resistance Against Jap­ Party’s development over a century. sions commanded by general Peng and the Jingxing coal mine — which people cherish the hard­won peace tionary sites,” Zhao said. anese Aggression (1931­45). “We should make good use of the Dehuai (1898­1974) against the Japa­ was important to the Japanese war and increases their sense of pride in She made the remarks during a The Taihang and Lyuliang moun­ ‘Red resources’ in Shanxi province nese army in North China in 1940. industry — was rendered inoperable building a better world.” seminar held in Taiyuan, the capi­ tains in Shanxi are remembered by to make the Party’s history better In that period, the Eighth Route for about six months. The offensive tal city of Shanxi, on March 18, for people throughout China, as these known to our people and use them Army mobilized more than 400,000 was the greatest victory of the Eighth Guo Yanjie contributed to this story.

energy to move violently,” Li said. “His powerful muscles can be Biomass boilers reduce Shanxi: A heaven for history buffs sensed even under the armor, as the armor is stiffened to such an extent By YUAN SHENGGAO that it seems ready to burst at any moment.” emissions from villages Shanxi is an ideal destination for In addition to the Buddhist fig­ researchers and tourists interested ures, there are also 30­plus small By YUAN SHENGGAO in history to explore ancient Chi­ statues of donors who had contrib­ nese culture as it is home to China’s uted money, labor and craftsman­ In Shanxi Transition and Com­ largest number of preserved ancient ship to the building and renovating prehensive Reform Demonstra­ buildings and structures. of the temple as well as the Buddhist tion Zone in Taiyuan, the Among them, Shuanglin Temple statues. province’s first carbon neutrality in Pingyao county in central Shanxi “The donors, with their names research institute was established is well­known for its Buddhist sculp­ and other information inscribed, on March 11. It marked an impor­ ture and artwork. were the ordinary residents in tant step in Shanxi’s new sustaina­ The temple, some six kilometers neighboring villages,” Li said. ble development pattern featuring to the southwest of the county seat The donors belong to various carbon emissions peaking and of Pingyao, is known as “the muse­ periods ranging from the Northern neutralization. um of colored sculptures in China” Song to the Ming Dynasty, accord­ Several days after the establish­ as it houses more than 2,000 color­ ing to the inscriptions. ment of the Shanxi Carbon Neu­ ful statues and carved figures, the An Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva statue featuring many arms is “From the point of researchers, trality Strategy and Innovation Research is conducted in greatest number in Shanxi. among the most eye­catching statues in Shuanglin Temple. the figures of donors are even more Academy, a cold front arrived in a lab at the Shanxi Carbon Researchers have struggled to PENG KE’ER / FOR CHINA DAILY significant than the Buddhist fig­ the city of Linfen, southwestern Neutrality Strategy and date the Buddhist temple, originally ures,” Li said. Shanxi, on March 18. Innovation Academy. called Zhongdu Temple, because of structed many times in history, with the most research­worthy are the The garments and ornaments In response, Wang Duibao, a res­ WU JIA / FOR CHINA DAILY limited written evidence. today’s preserved structures built four guardians of the Buddha. they wore, for instance, are valuable ident in the city’s Nanyu village Inscriptions on a stone stele in the during the Ming (1368­1644) and “The guardians are static, but we material evidence for research on restarted his heating­supply boil­ temple indicate that it was renovat­ Qing (1644­1911) dynasties. sense their movement when watch­ clothing styles of different periods, er, with an indoor temperature set new technologies and projects, ed in 571. “However, the unique selling ing them closely,” Li said. according to the curator. at 22 degrees Celsius. offering consultative services and “As 571 is noted as the year of ren­ point of Shuanglin Temple is not its He explained that the dynamic And such details as their postures, “We use biomass fuel for the boil­ investing in clean­energy projects. ovation, we are sure that the year of ancient structures,” Li said. “The comes from their facial expressions the use of colors and lines in creat­ er, which costs much less than elec­ “We put a special emphasis on its first construction should be earli­ most precious wealth is the 2,056 and their powerful and muscular ing the statues, can also offer a tricity,” Wang said. He added that the sustainable development in rural er than that,” said Li Chun, curator colored statues and sculptures fea­ limbs in poses of movement. frame of reference for studying Chi­ boiler is ready to work at any time. areas by offering clean­energy solu­ of the Shuanglin Temple Colored turing Buddhist figures and local Another statue with a full sense of nese sculpture arts in various peri­ The biomass boiler was devel­ tions to local residents,” Zhang said. Sculptures Museum. donors, as well as the decorative movement is Bodhisattva of Veda. ods, Li said. oped by the carbon neutrality One of its earliest projects for According to Li, Shuanglin Tem­ carvings surrounding the statues.” “The 50­centimeter­tall figure institution, before its official estab­ this purpose was developed in the ple had been destroyed and recon­ Among all the Buddhist figures, stands like a bow, with a potential Peng Ke’er contributed to this story. lishment, as one of its first solu­ rural areas of Luanping county in tions for carbon reduction. Hebei province. It helped install The solution involves technolo­ rooftop photovoltaic panels for construction in the city of Shuoz­ gies that transform straws and more than 600 low­income house­ hou. fruit tree branches into environ­ holds across 55 villages. With a total investment of 500 mentally friendly, highly efficient “The annual per­household million yuan by local Huashuo New and near­zero­emission fuels at a power generation capacity was Energy Technology and Nengji low cost. about 5,000 kilowatt­hours on Smart Technology, the project has Villages in Linfen are pioneers average, which means an added six production lines with an annual of the solution, which is to be pro­ net income of 1,200 yuan ($184) for capacity of 1 gigawatt­hours. moted across rural areas of Shanxi each family involved,” Zhang said. Behind the investment boom are in the next few years, according to “In Shanxi, we have plans to com­ Shanxi’s favorable policies for Zhang Jing, a senior executive of bine biomass fuel with photovoltaic emerging and high­tech industries, the institution. power generation, which aims to as well as the local authorities’ “We have collaborated with Bei­ offer more environmentally friendly efforts in improving the investment jing­based Tsinghua University for solutions to farmers,” Zhang added. A new plant for light­emitting displays operates in the Changzhi Optics and Electronics Industrial environment, according to local offi­ the biomass project and more Carbon neutrality is a new con­ Park. WANG PEI / FOR CHINA DAILY cials and businesspeople. clean­energy solutions will follow cept of sustainability in China. Shanxi’s business climate in the near future,” Zhang said. Central authorities recently pro­ improved substantially last year as Zhang said the institution is posed new targets for carbon the government continued its positioned as a “new type of reduction — to realize a carbon Investment booms in province in 2020 endeavors in streamlining adminis­ research and development entity”. peak in 2030 and carbon neutrali­ trative services, according to Zhang Its operations cover R&D for new zation in 2060. Jun, an executive at Tai’an New products and solutions, transfer­ By YUAN SHENGGAO Among the projects, nearly 2,000 mass production of the nation’s first Energy Technology based in the city ring research results, promoting Wu Jia contributed to this story. have settled in Shanxi’s various recombined human­source collagen of Xinzhou. Despite the COVID­19 pandemic, industrial zones, mainly engaged in product, which was developed in “The provincial government has North China’s Shanxi province has such emerging and high­tech sec­ cooperation with Shanghai­based further delegated its approval rights witnessed a boom in investment over tors as biomedicines, new energy, Fudan University and the Institute to the local governments, making it the past year, with more than 7,200 new infrastructure featuring the of Biophysics of the Chinese Acade­ possible for us to get all the approval new projects breaking ground in new generation of information tech­ my of Sciences. procedures through in the local city,” 2020. nology, advanced manufacturing, Dayun Group, a Shanxi automak­ Zhang said. These projects, with a combined electronics, integrated circuit and er based in the city of Yuncheng, He added that the local govern­ investment of 1.24 trillion yuan ($190 semiconductors. started the operation of a new ener­ ment has streamlined approval pro­ billion), have driven the province’s More than 900 projects in the gy vehicle plant in September 2020. cedures for starting a business. year­on­year fixed­asset investment zones and parks became operation­ With the new facility, Dayun has an “We needed to go through about growth to 10.6 percent in 2020, much al last year, according to the Shanxi NEV rolling off its assembly lines in 30 approval procedures relating to higher than the national average of Statistics Bureau. every two minutes. The company business registration, land use and 7.7 percent, according to the Shanxi Jinbo Biology is a high­tech com­ reported an output value of 50 bil­ construction in the past,” Zhang Statistics Bureau. The growth also pany in the Shanxi Transition and lion yuan for the past year. said. “And now only six procedures ranked Shanxi second in the country, Comprehensive Reform Demon­ On March 6, Shanxi’s largest lithi­ are required to start a project.” the province’s best ranking in two stration Zone in Taiyuan. It um­battery energy storage equip­ The headquarters of the Shanxi Carbon Neutrality Strategy and decades. announced in September 2020 the ment manufacturing project began Wang Pei contributed to this story. Innovation Academy. WU JIA / FOR CHINA DAILY

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