Guilin Office of the Eighth Route Army

Welcome to the Eight Route Army Guilin Office Memorial Hall, located at 96 Zhongshan North Road in Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. The site was originally located at 138 Guibei Road, at the intersection of Diecai Road. It has been converted into a patriotic education base and is now a popular tourist destination. The original building was Huang Kuangda's shop, a two-story Chinese brick and wood structure with three openings and two entrances, covering an area of 800 square meters. The building still bears the signboard of "Wan Xiang Zao Fang" (万祥醩坊). The first floor houses a guard room, duty room, emergency room, office, and other facilities, while the second floor has a conference room, radio room, cipher room, secretary's office, and living quarters for personnel. During the Anti-Japanese War in 1944, Guilin was occupied by the Japanese army, and the building was destroyed. It was rebuilt in its original form in 1967 and became a memorial hall in January 1977. In 1987, Ye Jianying inscribed the name of the hall. On July 1, 2013, the new exhibition hall of the Eight Route Army Guilin Office Memorial Hall was officially completed and opened to the public. In September 1938, Ye Jianying sent Liu Shu from the Changsha office of the Eighth Route Army and Xiong Zimin, a non-party friend, to Guilin as a forward station. Through the introduction of Huang Changyan, the manager of Guangxi Bank, they rented the "Wan Xiang Zao Fang" owned by Huang Kuangda at 138 Guibei Road. On October 25, 1938, Wuhan fell, and during the retreat, Zhou Enlai, the representative of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, proposed to Bai Chongxi, the deputy chief of staff of the Military Commission of the National Government, to establish the Eighth Route Army office in Guilin with his approval. In late November 1938, Li Kenong led some personnel from the Wuhan office of the Eighth Route Army to Guilin. The office had a secretary department, communication department, cipher department, general affairs department, finance department, transportation department, and material transfer department, with a maximum of more than 80 staff members. Qiu Nanzhang was the head of the communication department, Long Feihu was the head of the transportation department, and Yin Chengzhen was the head of the accounting department. Visitors to the memorial hall can learn about the history of the Eight Route Army's activities in Guilin during the Anti-Japanese War and appreciate the cultural relics and materials on display. It is a must-visit destination for those interested in Chinese revolutionary history.

Location: Guilin

Source: Wikimedia