On the historic route of the Red Army

Crossing sacred mountains

The next morning, we finally headed for Jiajin Mountain, the first major snowcapped mountain the Red Army soldiers crossed during the Long March in June 1935.

Altitude sickness returned, and it rained. As the bus climbed higher, the summer heat gave way to a chill, and I began to sense the hardship the soldiers faced. Grass covered the slopes, while cattle grazed peacefully. I imagined the soldiers had little time to appreciate the scenery.

The bus stopped at an altitude of about 3,600 meters. It was time to climb. I had assumed that decades of tourism development would have brought stairways or other facilities to make the route easier for visitors. There were none. Everything was almost as the soldiers had encountered it: a bare slope leading to a mountain pass about 300 meters higher.

We sang songs to encourage one another, but the climb became increasingly difficult as the slope grew steeper. A trek expected to take 40 minutes stretched to an hour and a half. One group member even spotted a badge in the grass, which he guessed might be a Red Army relic.

We completed our journey to the top of Jiajin Mountain by bus. The summit is 4,114 meters above sea level. Perhaps due to climate change, there was no snow at the summit in summer.

We then continued our own "march" to Luding county, Garze Tibetan autonomous prefecture. Luding Bridge across the Dadu River was strategically important during the Long March. On May 29, 1935, a 22-member commando unit broke through enemy fire to cross the bridge.

Walking across the 103-meter-long suspension bridge over the roaring Dadu River in the rain still requires courage today. Wooden planks now cover the bridge, while Red Army soldiers had only iron chains to hold as they advanced under fire.

The story of Luding Bridge is widely known in China. Although the commando members were later hailed as national heroes after New China was founded in 1949, some soldiers' identities remain unknown. They may have sacrificed their lives in later battles, or simply become unsung heroes.

On the way back, we crossed the Dadu River again, passing a highway bridge completed in 2018, one of the major bridges on the route from Sichuan to the Xizang autonomous region.

The magnificent infrastructure marks another milestone on the Long March in our new era.