Ehizuelen Michael Mitchell Omoruyi is participating the events during retrace the steps of those brave Chinese soldiers through Yan'an in Shaanxi Province to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Long March. (Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn)
As part of a group of foreign visitors that was invited to retrace the steps of those brave Chinese soldiers through Yan'an in Shaanxi Province to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Long March, I discovered another part of rural China. Wuqi and Yanchuan Counties -- the rich soil of Shaanxi province might not be as famous as other towns in China, but today both counties, and the small farming community in North East China's, enjoy comparative serenity, unlike the period when it was under siege right before the epic Long March.
Both towns today are peaceful and provide business opportunities to both farmers and entrepreneurs. Visitors are warmly welcomed by friendly inhabitants to a serene atmosphere and pollution-free surroundings. Like most rural communities, both counties are devoid of the daily frenzied atmosphere and chaos in cities across China.
The people, like other rural people in China, are friendly. I am a living witness to the kind of reception a foreigner can receive when you visit Wuqi and Yanchuan Counties; this is as a result of the way we were treated. We were welcomed like royals with fruits, good spicy food that reminds me of home and unique Chinese tea which I kept drinking. However, the reception started before I got to Yan'an when Chen Ziyan, a China Daily staff was asked to assist me during my trip. She made the whole exercise a remarkable one; she gave me numerous reasons to believe that the spirit of the Long March was truly in her. She acted like the veterans that sacrificed everything for the China we see today.
It was a cold October morning at about 8am, when we were whisked along with other local organizers and media in one of the three buses on smooth highways through tunnels and bridges to witness one of the greatest epic treks in the history of mankind; the length of the journey they undertook eight decades ago has often been underestimated.
Although most of the buildings and sites have undergone some form of renovation, there were still indications of what the area looked like during the era the Red Army camped there. We visited two museums: one in Yanchuan County, the home of President Xi Jinping and the other in Wuqi County where items belonging to the leaders and soldiers of the revolution were carefully preserved.
The items breathe life back into the memories of the Long March struggles and the victory of 1930's China. It displays how the embattled Chinese Communists broke through Nationalist enemy lines and begin an epic trek from their encircled headquarters in southwest China.
