On the historic route of the Red Army

We grew up hearing moving stories of the Long March (1934-36), of Red Army soldiers' courage and their unwavering revolutionary ideals amid unimaginable hardship.

"Climbing over snowcapped mountains and trekking across the grasslands."

This description is often associated with the Long March, recalled by Red Army veterans. Behind these seemingly simple words lay harsh realities. The soldiers crossed more than 20 mountains rising above 4,000 meters above sea level. The so-called grasslands were vast marshlands stretching across 15,000 square kilometers at an altitude of about 3,500 meters.

With little oxygen and scant supplies — some soldiers had to eat grass roots — and their exhausted bodies pursued by Kuomintang troops, the journey was brutal. Before the Red Army reached its revolutionary base in Northwest China, more than 10,000 soldiers had perished on the snowy mountains and grasslands.

For modern Chinese people, the Long March has become almost a heroic epic.

Most of the snowcapped mountains and grasslands the Red Army crossed are in present-day Sichuan province, as are many of the sites of key battles along the route.

This summer, I traveled through Sichuan along several routes where Red Army soldiers left their footprints about 90 years ago. From January 1935 to August 1936, the three main forces of the Red Army — the First, Second and Fourth Front Armies — passed through 72 counties in present-day Sichuan, more than in any other province.

Standing in the wilderness where the soldiers once demonstrated such determination, and breathing the same thin mountain air, I suddenly felt that the familiar stories we have heard for years were more than a grand historical epic. They were also stories about individuals with hopes, fears and great expectations.