Ranzhuang Tunnel Warfare Site – a Great Wonder on the Plains
On the Central Hebei Plain, Ranzhuang appears to be an ordinary village with a population of 3,000 people. However, during the War of Resistance against Japanese Invasion, the locals achieved a grand geological feat by digging underground tunnels to defeat the enemy. Ever since, the village has shone as a star on the map of China. Seven decades have passed, and today this site of tunnel warfare in Ranzhuang Village is as well preserved as it was back in the 1930s and 1940s.
The Lugou Bridge Incident of July 1937 marks the launch of Japan’s all-out war of invasion. The North China Plain was helpless against Japan’s mechanized divisions, occupying the area by the end of the year. It was impossible for Ranzhuang Village to escape war. On the morning of June 15, 1939, Japanese troops surrounded Ranzhuang. A total of 13 villagers were killed, 11 injured and another 11 captured. The enemy burnt more than 700 houses and looted the whole village in what became known as the June 15th Massacre.
Wherever there is aggression, there is resistance. In order to defend the village from further invasion, the locals sought help from the vast surrounds. At first, the villagers dug a good numbers of cellars inside and outside the village, so as to shelter themselves and hide their belongings. Under the leadership of the local Communist Party committee, the villagers gradually changed the single-entrance holes into double-entrance and multiple-entrance ones, while extending and widening them to form tunnels that connected the other villages around Ranzhuang.
The tunnels reveal the wisdom of Ranzhuang people. They camouflaged entrances and exits to the tunnels in the corners of walls, troughs for livestock, bellows, and cooking stoves. Moreover, the villagers set up traps and platform trapdoors at crossroads underground. What’s more, the vents were connected to wells, making it possible to get fresh air and fresh water simultaneously. On the main streets above ground, blockhouses, hidden rooms, temples and even millstones were constructed and connected with the tunnels. In this way, locals could observe the situation of their enemies from clandestine niches and take the enemy unaware.
In fact, underground tunnels are found in every village of the Central Hebei Plain. During wartime, this underground Great Wall stretched a total of 12,500 kilometers.
In 1950, the Ranzhuang Tunnel Warfare Site welcomed delegates from 36 countries, who greatly praised the incredible underground construction. Hundreds of thousands of tourists from home and abroad have since visited the site each year. Up to now, the tunnel warfare site has received nearly 10 million visitors. At the same time, more than 10 films were shot at this site. Tunnel Warfare produced in 1965 is the most classic film, telling the stories based on this underground edifice.
Baoding, boasting a glorious history and picturesque scenery, is booming and thriving.
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