Tourism turn for key army HQ in anti-Japanese war
Li Jinshui says Chinese with conscience had to step forward to save the country during the war. Photo: RTHK
Shanxi province has established a 'red cultural ecosystem' and patriotic education base at the site of the former Eighth Route Army headquarters in the war of resistance against Japan.
Educational tours have been hosted at the site in Wuxiang county in Shanxi, as this year marks the 80th anniversary of victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and World Anti-Fascist War.
A former soldier from Wuxiang county who participated in the war of resistance, Li Jinshui, joined the Eighth Route Army at the age of 17 and participated in multiple battles.
'With my country being in trouble, I, as a person with conscience, had to step forward and save my country with guns,' he said.
Li, 98, said he was seriously injured in a battle in 1944, with a bullet hitting him in the left leg, but that he continued to fight.
'I was discharged despite my wound not having fully recovered because we only had a small hospital and many injured soldiers,' he said.
"The army needed people so I returned when my condition was stable."
The former Eighth Route Army headquarters, from where oversight was cast over 135 battles during the war, has now been transformed into a memorial hall.
The 'red tourism' site is expected to see more than 200,000 visitors per year.
Researcher Guo Xiuxiang from a research institute of Communist Party history in Shanxi said the site is of high historical value.
'The site witnessed how Chinese soldiers and people fought against a siege and attack by the Japanese army,' she said.
"It also witnessed how the Eighth Route Army engaged in guerrilla warfare against Japanese forces, and as such it has a very high historical value."
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