Jiāozhuānghù Tunnel Warfare Site 焦庄户地道战遗址纪念馆
顺义区龙湾屯镇焦庄户村
Part of A Better Guide to Běijīng’s coverage of Běijīng Suburbs and Beyond
The Jiāozhuānghù site is a rare example of ‘red tourism’ (红色旅游) that’s actually of some interest, although as at other sites of this kind the propaganda is laid on thickly. The tunnels show ‘the wisdom and courage of the Jiāozhuānghù people in tunnel warfare and the leadership of the Communist Party’.
At the gate of the modern grey exhibition hall write your name, passport number, and a telephone number in the guest book when buying your ticket.
Tunnel digging in Jiāozhuānghù began in early 1943 with the aim of resisting the Japanese occupation. Holes dug to hide people or food were connected together in a network that eventually ran for 11.5km underground, linking neighbouring villages, with underground meeting rooms, and slits for snipers. Today, 830m of tunnel are open to the public.
The first hall sets out the Party’s official view of history during the Anti-Japanese War (World War Two), and displays pistols, grenades, rifles, and tools from the period. Despite the investment in new buildings and the railings set up outside to marshal long queues, the chances are that you’ll be alone here, and the staff, in an authentic echo of public service under stricter communism than today, will reluctantly turn on the lights only as you reach each section. This is all propaganda aimed at burnishing the reputation of the Party for a domestic audience, and there’s little in English.
The tunnel entrance is in an older building across the road behind the new hall. Any baggage must be deposited in lockers through a door on the left before descending a steep staircase with a guide (no English spoken) and into the tunnels themselves. These wind sinuously up and down and have ceilings high enough to dispense with stooping. There are meeting rooms, side turnings to villages as far as 2km away, and steps up to hidden firing points, such as one within the walls of a village temple. The guide makes sure you follow the official route, not deviating from the Party line, and the era is further evoked by piped music of rousing songs of the kind you can hear performed live in some of Běijīng’s parks (see Zhōngshān Park).
Above ground old thatched and mud-walled buildings with revolutionary credentials have been preserved, complete with looms, rice-husking equipment, tiny vegetable gardens, etc., as well as a restored 16m-high earthen watchtower for the militia, originally dating back to 1947.
▶ Jiāozhuānghù Dì-dào Zhàn Yízhǐ Jìniànguǎn, in Shùnyì District, 65km NE, gps 40º12’09”N, 116º43’19”E, t 6046 1906, www.bjjzhdd.com, 8am–3.30pm, Wed–Sun. Free. nb Passport required
b to 焦庄户: 934 from Dōng Zhí Mén Wài Xiéjiē, just E of the bus station, at 8am and 2pm; more frequently 970 to 木林, then just a few stops on the
顺31; about 1½ hrs. Both routes stop at m Sān Yuán Qiáo (Line 10 and Airport Express).
There are several summer-only nóng jiā (农家, peasant family) restaurants in private houses in the village. Ten minutes’ walk back down the main road on the left before traffic lights there’s the basic but properly priced 龙湾 (‘Dragon Bay’) serving Běijīng’s traditional 涮羊肉 (shuàn yáng ròu, quick-boil lamb hotpot) and a comprehensive menu of everyday dishes, open year-round. Other red tourism sites include the Museum of the Chinese People’s Anti-Japanese War, the Military Museum of the Chinese People’s Revolution and those of tanks, and planes.
Next in Museums and Other Sights: Tank Museum
Previously: China Red Sandalwood Museum
Main Index of A Better Guide to Beijing.
For discussion of China travel, see The Oriental-List.
