A tour to Military base of Eighth Route Army formed by CPC

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2011-11-25 (China Military News cited from China Daily) -- Our first stop in Shexian county, Handan, was the former military headquarters of the 129 division of the Eighth Route Army - a residential site that had served as both home and office to many well-known figures, such as Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping, during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-1945).

The Eighth Route Army was formed by the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 1937. The 129 division, led by Liu, was one of its major divisions.

While the division began with only 9,000 soldiers in 1937, it numbered 700,000 soldiers by 1945. However, about 400,000 of this number were local militias, comprising locals who were sympathetic to the cause.

We could almost imagine what it might have been like to live back then in the small, rectangular homes in the 1930s.

"Only a few things have changed," our guide Qingyan says, assuring us that we're seeing original buildings.

"Instead of dirt, the ground is now laid with stone, and glass windows have replaced the paper ones."

Before the 129 division's occupation, the place was a residential area, where "more than 80 percent of the people were named Zhang".

Residents were enlisted to fight the Japanese, and many buildings like the Zhang's Ancestral Hall were turned into meeting halls once the 129 division had moved in.

Sparsely furnished with a few tables and chairs, the meetings halls would not have looked much different from a bedroom if not for two things - the battle maps on the walls and the absence of beds.

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