西柏坡英文导游词

Xibaipo, a name echoing the glory of China's revolutionary history, is an ordinary 100-household

village located in Pingshan county, Hebei Province. In May 1947, the Party's Working Committee

chose this location and in May 1948, under the leadership of Comrade Mao Tse-tung, the Party's

Central Committee and the headquarters of the Chinese People's Liberation Army moved to this

village. This made it the last rural command center prior to the decisive battles between the

Communist Party and the Kuomintang. Xibaipo's unique contribution to the revolution has thus

bestowed upon it a name that shines in the history books of the Chinese revolution, setting up a

historical monument with eternal glory.

In 1991 Zhu Muzhi, who was Minister of the Information Office of the State Council then, wrote

this inscription for Xibaipo: "The destiny of China was determined in this village." His inscription

speaks highly of Xibaipo's historical status in China’s revolution.

"New China set off from here" is a famous comment attributed to the writer Yan Tao when he

wrote a literary report on Xibaipo, entitled "Notes on the Road to the East." This comment was

also used as a subtitle for the document, and is now widely quoted as the best synopsis of

Xibaipo's historic contribution.

Xibaipo was selected to be the command center for both the liberating of China and the planning

of New China for various reasons. Not only did its unique geographic location and natural

surroundings best suit this purpose, Xibaipo also had developed into a strong revolutionary base

over the years and therefore stood out for its political preeminence.

Xibaipo is a small village located on the northern banks of the Hutuo River running through the

Jixi mountainous region. Not only does it have beautiful scenery, but also rich and fertile soil. The

village is located in the middle of Pingshan county, at the crossroads between the North China

Plateau and Taihang Mountain. Poised in a horse-foot-shaped valley oriented toward the sun,

Xibaipo is surrounded by mountains on its three sides and by water on one side. To its west, it

embraces the gateway to Taihang Mountain, and to its east, it borders the Jizhong Plateau. The

village is only 90 km from Shijiazhuang, a strategically important city in the North China region.

Xibaipo enjoys convenient transportation facilities and is distinguished as a military location of

strategic importance. Occupying this location provides for flexibility in either withdrawing into

the mountains at a time of emergency or for advancing into cities when necessary.

Revolutionary activity started early in Pingshan county. During the period of the Great Revolution

in the 1920s, the Party set up its own organization here. By 1946, there were 608 branch offices,

and the number of Party members had increased to 19,535, from just 30 members in 1931. The

party gained popular support at the grassroots level. After the War against the Japanese Invasion,

Pingshan county was surrounded by two revolutionary bases, i.e. Shanxi-Chaha’er-Hebei and

Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-He’nan, and located here were the command posts of the 4th as well as

the 2nd military sub-areas within the Shanxi-Chaha’er-Hebei region. The headquarters of the

Party's Northern Bureau, the Shanxi-Chaha’er-Hebei Regional Government and the

Shanxi-Chaha’er-Hebei Military Region were also located in Pingshan county for three and half

years.

Pingshan is seen as a model county in the Shanxi-Chaha’er-Hebei region, and Xibaipo regarded as

a model village. Xibaipo set up its Party organization in 1937. By 1948, the number of Party

members had increased to 40 members coming from 33 households, accounting for 12.3% of the

total population and 33% of the total number of households. In the neighboring area, the villages

were lined up quite densely along the Hutuo River, with an average distance of 1 to 2 km from

each other. Xibaipo was close to both the mountains and the river, and known for its rich and

fertile soil. Given its favorable agricultural conditions, Xibaipo has two harvest seasons each year.

When commenting on the economic conditions in Xibaipo and Pingshan, General Nie Rongzhen

noted: "Pingshan County can be perceived as the Ukraine of the Shanxi-Chaha’er-Hebei region."

The relatively developed agricultural economy helped to guarantee logistic support to both troops

and the common people, and provided a material base for the Party's Central Committee.

The Party's Working Committee selected Xibaipo as the optimal place for various reasons,

including its favorable geographic location, its relatively developed economy, its consistent