Nanhu Revolutionary Memorial Hall： A New Red Coordinate

　　Nanhu Lake in Jiaxing, Zhejiang, is full of tourists every day.

　　On the island in the middle of the lake, a red boat lies still on the water, restoring the historical scene of the Communist Party of China (CPC)’s birth. Not far away, it is the magnificent new South Lake Revolutionary Memorial Hall.

　　Here, watching an exhibition, listening to a party class, learning about party constitution, watching a feature film, paying tribute to a red boat and revisiting the pledge of joining the Party can make the spirit inherit and the thoughts sublimate.

　　South Lake in Jiaxing is the birthplace of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

　　In order to effectively protect and manage the site of South Lake, the Nanhu Revolutionary Memorial Hall in Jiaxing was established in 1959. After more than 50 years of construction and development, Nanhu Revolutionary Memorial Hall has become a patriotic and party history education base with high popularity and influence in China, receiving more than 1 million visitors every year.

　　Nanhu Revolutionary Memorial Hall records the revolutionary history and inherits the "Red Boat Spirit". However, the old memorial hall is limited by space, which affects the visiting effect.

　　In February 2005, the staff reported to the supreme leader comrade who made a special trip to Jiaxing Nanhu to pay tribute to the red boat, and he was planning to expand the memorial hall or open a new site. Comrade Supreme Leader expressed his support on the spot.

　　According to the "2004— Outline of the National Red Tourism Development Plan in 2010, and in 2005, the expansion plan of the new Nanhu Revolutionary Memorial Hall was formulated.

　　In October of the same year, the expansion plan was approved by the General Office of the Central Committee of the CPC and Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China, and the National Development and Reform Commission formally established the project, which was included in the investment plan of funds (government bonds) in the national budget for infrastructure projects of red tourist attractions that year.

　　On June 28th, 2006, on the occasion of the 85th anniversary of the founding of the Party, with the care and support of the Supreme Leader, the new Nanhu Revolutionary Memorial Hall broke ground. On March 5, 2007, the expansion project of the new museum officially started construction. By the end of 2008, the main project of the new building was basically completed. On June 30th, 2011, on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Party, the new Nanhu Revolutionary Memorial Hall, which took five years to build, was officially opened to the public.

　　The new Nanhu Revolutionary Memorial Hall, which is located on the bank of the scenic South Lake, is located in the central plot south of Nanxi Road, north of Yuanhu Road, east of Huayuan Road and west of Haiyan Tang Road parking lot in Jiaxing City. It covers an area of 2.73 hectares and consists of three buildings: one main building and two auxiliary buildings.

　　The new building has a total construction area of 19,633 square meters, including an exhibition hall area of 7,794 square meters. The main building of the new building has one basement and three floors above ground, with a construction area of 10,435 square meters, including an exhibition hall area of 5,167 square meters. The East and West Annex Buildings are two-story buildings with a building area of 9,198 square meters, with an auxiliary exhibition hall, an academic lecture hall and a service area, of which the exhibition hall covers an area of 2,627 square meters.

　　The new building with solemn architectural style has an "I" shape, which represents that the Communist Party of China (CPC) is a political party of the working class. There are 56 eaves columns around the building, which means that 56 ethnic groups of the Chinese family are closely United around the party. The exterior wall of the building adopts large-scale blue brick, which makes the whole building not only reflect the solemn and atmospheric style, but also show the charm of Jiangnan water town. To the south of the new building is July 1st Square, and to the north is the oath platform.

　　First-class architecture, first-class content, first-class exhibition.

　　After the new museum was completed and opened, it not only became the new coordinate of Jiaxing’s urban construction with its solemn and atmospheric architectural style, but also was highly praised and fully affirmed by all walks of life and the vast audience because of its informative and vivid exhibition content and brand-new exhibition form.

　　The memorial hall, which has no closing day for 365 days a year, welcomes thousands of people from all over party member every day. There was a long queue at the entrance of the memorial hall, and many people wore party emblem on their chests.

　　Lu Huiwen from Shanghai is an old party member who has been a party member for 47 years. A group of 30 of them revisited the oath of joining the party in front of the oath wall of the memorial hall. He said that every time he came to Jiaxing, he would visit the Nanhu Revolutionary Memorial Hall or pay tribute to the Red Boat. This was the fifth time.

　　"Although I have retired, I always remember that I am a Communist party member, and I will try my best to perform my duties as a party member every day of my life." Lu Huiwen, whose temples are white, still said with passion.

　　Time flies in 1996, and the vicissitudes of 1996 have changed dramatically. From 1921 to 2017, from 58 party member to more than 80 million party member, the Communist Party of China (CPC) led the ship of China’s revolution, construction and reform all the way, braving the wind and waves and courageously moving forward.

　　"After the completion of the new building, it has been widely praised by the outside world. It is believed that the architectural style and scale of the new building have well interpreted the important historical position of Nanhu as the birthplace of the party." Zhang Xianyi, director of the Nanhu Revolutionary Memorial Hall, said, "The memorial hall is like a heavy book on the history of the Communist Party of China (CPC)’s party, which left a deep impression on everyone."

　　During the National Day holiday this year, the Nanhu Revolutionary Memorial Hall received 50,000 visitors. "Since the opening of the new museum, the annual reception volume has been around 1 million." Li Yun, deputy director of the Nanhu Revolutionary Memorial Hall, said that the memorial hall has given full play to the role of base education, and has successively formed co-construction relations with more than 40 schools and units, regularly or irregularly carried out co-construction activities, held various lectures, developed and expanded the volunteer team, and actively cooperated with the holding of adult ceremonies, party swearing-in ceremonies and various theme activities, with increasing social influence.

　　(Jiaxing, Zhejiang, November 2 nd, our reporter Yan Hongfeng, our correspondent Pan Xingmei)