Recommended Red Scenic Spots Routes in Haidian District, Beijing

Recently, Haidian District in Beijing has recommended 3 red scenic spot tourism routes for everyone. It has to be said that these three routes really connect the red history of the past century. I believe many friends love visiting some red scenic spots, right? Today, I will share with you these three red tourism routes and let you know more about red history.

1. Route One: “The Journey of the Initial Heart”

“The Journey of the Initial Heart” route mainly involves the following locations: Beijing Normal University, Peking University, Tsinghua University, Yuanmingyuan Ruins Park and Li Dazhao Martyrs Cemetery.

This route starts from Beijing Normal University. Here, there are the Beijing Normal University May 4th Memorial Monument, the December 9th Memorial Monument, and the Memorial Monument of Fan Shirong, Liu Hezhen, and Yang Dequn, the Martyrs of the March 18th Movement. They record the history of BNU students participating in the May 4th Movement and the December 9th Movement and commemorate the revolutionary martyrs. Leaving Beijing Normal University, go northwest to Peking University. The March 18th Movement Martyrs Memorial, the Revolutionary Martyrs Memorial, and Edgar Snow’s tomb carry the memories of the revolutionary martyrs’ lofty spirit.

Further north is Tsinghua University. There are the Memorial Monument to the Death of Wei Jie and Three Others, the Memorial Monument of Shi Huang, the Tomb of Ji Yuxiu, and the Memorial Monument to Tsinghua Martyrs. They tell us about the heroic spirit of the students who, as representatives of China’s advanced intellectuals, stood up and sacrificed themselves in the face of national peril. They used their youth and blood to interpret the glorious tradition of patriotism and dedication.

Further west is the March 18th Martyrs Cemetery in Yuanmingyuan. It carries a poignant history of the Republic of China and witnessed the vicissitudes of modern Chinese history. Today, over 90 years have passed, and those who come to pay their respects and remember seem to still feel the patriotic fervor of the people of that time, hear the shouts of the students, and see the blood of the martyrs.

Further west, along Yiheyuan Road, Yuquan Mountain Road, and Wanan East Road, finally comes the Li Dazhao Martyrs Cemetery. It is one of the one hundred classic red tourism sites in the country and is also a national patriotic education demonstration base. It plays a comprehensive role in patriotic propaganda education, social classroom teaching experiments, cadre education and training, and is an ecological, modern, and humanistic cemetery that combines commemoration, education, and publicity.

2. Route Two: “The Journey of Resistance”

“The Journey of Resistance” is basically designed according to the underground transportation line from Haidian to the Pingxi Anti-Japanese Base during the War of Resistance Against Japan. Each location was once an underground communication liaison point, involving locations such as Peking University, Baiwang Mountain Forest Park, Heilongtan, Wenquan Xianlongshan, Dajue Temple, and Bei Family Garden.

The first stop of this route is Peking University. Here, there is an anti-Japanese war liaison point, formerly the No. 1 automated sewage well of Yanjing University. From autumn 1938 to around 1941, the underground Communist Party secretly used this place as a liaison point and transmitted documents, intelligence, propaganda materials, and military equipment between Pingjin and the anti-Japanese base here.

Leaving Peking University, continue north along Wanquan River Road and Yuanmingyuan West Road to Baiwang Mountain Forest Park. Here is the Heishanhu Battle Memorial Park. Heishanhu was a key transportation route from Beiping to Wenquan, Yangfang, and Nankou. Here, it records the brave story of the National Anti-Japanese Army repelling the enemy’s attack in the early days of the Anti-Japanese War and shooting down enemy fighter jets with rifles and other light weapons.

Continue west along the road to Heilongtan. After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, Heilongtan became a secret liaison point for the underground Communist Party. Michael Lindsay, an international friend who came to China to support the war, often used his special status as a foreigner to secretly deliver scarce medicines and radio parts purchased in Beiping to the Eighth Route Army through Heilongtan and other places.

Leaving Heilongtan, continue west along Wenbei Road for a short distance, and you will reach Wenquan Xianlongshan. In 1941, the Japanese army built a triangular “Zou Nai Cheng” fortress based on the terrain here, checking passersby and materials. The underground Communist Party liaison officers fought wits with the Japanese army here, transmitting intelligence and medicine.

Further west is Dajue Temple. During the War of Resistance Against Japan, the area around West Mountain in Beiping was a guerrilla area, and Dajue Temple was a liaison and rendezvous point for the underground Communist Party and its leading revolutionary forces.

Finally, going north, you will reach Bei Family Garden at the foot of Jifeng Mountain on the north side of Taiyanshan Mountain. The owner of this garden was a French doctor, Henri Be, who lived in China during the Republic of China period. Bei Family Garden was not only a gathering place for Chinese and French celebrities at that time, but also served as an underground communication station for the Communist Party in Beiping during the War of Resistance Against Japan.

3. Route Three: “The Journey of the Examination”

This route mainly reflects the history of the Central Committee of the Communist Party arriving in Beijing on March 25, 1949, and preparing for the new CPPCC and founding a new China in Fragrant Hills. It involves red sites such as Tsinghua Garden Train Station, Yi Shou Tang in the Summer Palace, the December 9th Movement Memorial Site, and the Fragrant Hills Revolution Memorial Site.

The first stop of this route is Tsinghua Garden Train Station. It is located in Kexin Community, Zhongguancun Street, Haidian District. It is one of the oldest stations on the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway that is closest to Beijing. On the morning of March 23, 1949, Chairman Mao Zedong led the Central Committee of the Communist Party and the Headquarters of the People’s Liberation Army, leaving the last rural command post of the Chinese revolution in Xibeipo, headed for the ancient capital of Beiping, and officially embarked on the great journey of “going to Beijing to take the examination”.

On the morning of March 25, Chairman Mao Zedong and other leaders got off the train at Tsinghua Garden Train Station and entered Beiping. They then changed to a car and went to Yi Shou Tang in the Summer Palace to rest. In the evening, Chairman Mao hosted a banquet at Yi Shou Tang for democrats from all over the country who came to Beijing to attend the First Session of the First Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.

Leaving the Summer Palace, go northwest, passing the National Botanical Garden (formerly the Beijing Botanical Garden). There is the December 9th Movement Memorial Site. Tourists who are interested can also visit it. The end point of this route is the Fragrant Hills Revolution Memorial Site. At the Double Clear Villa and Lai Qingxuan in Fragrant Hills, Chairman Mao and his comrades-in-arms, together, commanded the crossing of the river, met with representatives of various democratic parties and patriotic figures, prepared for the new CPPCC, planned to establish a new China, and accomplished major events that reversed the destiny of China and decided the future of China. The Central Committee of the Communist Party in Fragrant Hills completed the first answer sheet of “going to Beijing to take the examination” and painted a grand blueprint for the new China.