JIANGXI
PROVINCE

Nanchang
The city of Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi Province in southeast China, has a population approaching one million. In modem history, it is most famous as the first place that the embryonic Communist army attacked after forming up in the nearby mountains. The troops under the command of Chou Enlai stormed Nanchang on 1 August 1927 and held the city for seven days before the Nationalists pushed them out again. There are various 'revolutionary sites' in the city, including the HEADQUARTERS OP THE NANCHANG RISING On Shengli Lu (victory road), and Nanchang has long been a destination for pilgrims visiting the various spawning grounds of Chinese Communism.

Like many other places in China, Nanchang was severely disrupted by the Cultural Revolution and the campaigns which followed it up to and beyond the death of Mao in 1976. The city's tractor factory, for instance, was forced to close for almost. two years between 1974 and 1976 while groups of workers belonging to different political factions engaged in occasional running battles with wooden clubs, stones and bottles of acid. According to one report, the directors of the factory were besieged in their offices on more than 50 occasions, and the radicals took over local militia groups to form their own army. when foreign journalists visited the factory in 1977, one worker told them that he had spent half of 1976 just sitting at home because the radicals had told him not to follow 'the theory of productive forces' by continuing to work. But, he added, he did go to the factory once a month to collect his pay.

There are a number of possible excursions from Nanchang - to the summer resort of Lushan (see p. 184), to the pottery-making town of Jingdezhen (see below), and to the sacred birthplace of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, the Jinggangshan mountains (see p.182).



How to get there and where to stay
Nanchang is connected by plane to Shanghai, Canton and Peking, and is also on the main Shanghai-Canton railway line. There is a large number of hotels and guesthouses in the city, presumably because of the great many visitors who have come over the years to inspect the relics of the youth of Chinese Communism.

The three main hotels are all close together, not far from the centre of town. The Jiangxi Hotel (Changzheng Lu) is the one most frequently used by foreigners, but there are also the Nanchang Hotel (Zhanqian Lu) and the Jiangxi Provincial Guesthouse (Bayi Lu) for especially honoured guests.

Jingdezhen
Jingdezhen in northeast Jiangxi was once famous for producing fine Chinese porcelain coveted throughout China and much of the rest of the world, especially Europe. However, in the words of one writer: 'China's ceramics industry never fully recovered from the ravages of the Taiping Rebellion over a century ago. Today, the tradition of fine quality chinaware formerly associated with Jingdezhen is kept alive in Derby, Limoges and other ceramic centres in Western countries.'

Ceramics are still produced in Jingdezhen, but of a very inferior quality compared to the old days. Nevertheless, it is a major industry, and Jingdezhen's 30000 ceramics workers produce about 250 million pieces a year, about half of them for export. (To get to Iingdezhen, take a train. There is a branch railway line from Nanchang.)

Jinggangshan
In this isolated mountain area on the border between Jiangxi and Hunan provinces, is a sacred place for Chinese Communists, and a place of great interest for students of modern Chinese history. The National Party under Generalissimo Chiang Kaishek tried to destroy the Communist Party in 1927 and was nearly successful. Abortive raids by the fledgling Communist army against Nanchang and Changsha in the same year left the Party even weaker, but some key Party members, most notably Mao Tse-tung, made their way into the isolated Jinggangshan mountains and spent the next four years there, building the Chinese brand of Communism - revolution based not on the urban proletariat but on the rural peasantry. The first Chinese Communist government, called a soviet, was established here with its headquarters at Chaling across the provincial border in Hunan, and Mao's men worked at expanding the territory under their control and experimenting with land reform. It was here that Mao met up with Zhu De (Che Teh), known as the 'Father of the Red Army', an experienced soldier who was instrumental in making Mao's political ambitions militarily possible. The Communist Party Central Committee, still loyal to the Russian idea of urban revolution, was disdainful of Mao's attempts to organise the peasants and gave him and his band of mountain guerrillas little support. In 1929, the Party leadership ordered Mao to dissolve the Red Army and return to Shanghai, but Mao refused in spite of increasing pressure from Nationalist troops.

In 1930, Chiang Kaishek began the first campaign of 'encirclement and annihilation' against the Communists, which failed - just as the other five subsequent 'annihilation' campaigns did - when the Communists captured the Nationalist general in charge of the campaign. The fifth campaign in 1934 was much more successful, however, and the Nationalists forced the Communist forces to abandon theirstrong-holds in the mountains of southeast China and embark on the epic Long March, eventually ending in Yan'an in Shaanxi Province.

Visitors to the Jinggangshan mountains go by road from Nanchang to the village of CIPING, a journey of more than 200 miles (320 kilometres) to the southeast. Jiangri is a poor province although the countryside is interesting, but the journey is recommended only for specialists and those with a specific interest in the history of the Chinese Communist Party.

In Ciping, visitors are shown a house which Mao used as his headquarters and a museum which contains various relics relating to the formation of the Red Army. One item is a wooden pole General Zhu De is supposed to have used to carry buckets of water in spite of protests from his underlings, thereby showing he had a good proletarian outlook. During the Cultural Revolution, when Zhu De came under criticism, the pole was redesignated as having belonged to Lin Piao, then in the political ascendant. The name was changed back to Zhu De when Lin Piao was killed after allegedly attempting to assassinate Mao in 1971.

Some Chinese tourists still visit Ciping, although far fewer than during the Cultural Revolution, which means that there is probably a bus from Nanchang (I have, unfortunately, not been able to discover any information).

Lushan
Situated in the very north of Jiangxi Province in southeast China, this mountain resort has been the site of a number of important events in modern Chinese history which makes it more than just a pretty scenic spot.

Generalissimo Chiang Kaishek had a great liking for Lushan and had a residence on the mountain which can still be visited, and even rented, today. The Nationalist Party (Kuomingtang) under Chiang's leadership held a number of important meetings here in the 1930s, but the meeting which really put Lushan on the historical map took place in 1959, exactly ten years after the Communist victory.

It was a gathering of the Politburo of the Communist Party, and the main topic on the agenda was Mao's disastrous Great Leap Forward and his decision to push ahead with the grouping of China's peasantry into 'people's communes', which together threw China into almost unprecedented economic chaos. Mao, the incorrigible dreamer, could not see past his vision of a massive collective effort dragging China into the modern world. The Politburo was a little bit more down-to-earth.

The man who stood up and took it upon himself to criticise Mao was General Peng Dehuai, a peasant soldier from Mao's home province of Hunan, who had followed the Chairman since 1928. He read out a long submission to Mao which attacked the Great Leap Forward policy for attempting too much too quickly and throwing the economy out of balance. The other military leaders at the conference apparently supported Peng, and when a vote was taken, Mao reportedly lost. Mao, however, was not one to allow himself to be beaten by the democratic process. He called for an enlarged Politburo meeting, and the vote was reversed.

Although Mao had to admit some of his errors, he continued to promote the Great Leap Forward and insisted that China's economy would surpass the economy of Great Britain within 15 years. Peng Dehuai was forced to resign his post as Defence Minister and was replaced by Lin Piao, the man who was accused in 1971 of attempting to assassinate Mao. It was a victory won at a huge cost. Mao lost the post of State President to Liu Shaoqi, and after the Lushan conference and the 'Three Terrible Years' which followed, when the harvests failed and probably millions of people starved to death, he was virtually pushed aside and only regained supreme power by starting the Cultural Revolution. Peng Dehuai, meanwhile, was eventually jailed and died in 1974 in extreme secrecy. His death was only officially reported in 1981.

In 1970, the Politburo held another meeting in Lushan. This time, Lin Piao, now officially named as Mao's chosen successor, allegedly attempted to have himself made President. He reportedly suggested that Mao become President, in the belief that Mao would decline, leaving the way open for himself. The plot, if that is what it was, did not work, but as with most struggles in Chinese history, we only know the winner's side of the story. The conference hall where these battles took place still exists but visitors are not allowed inside. It is marked by a plaque which simply says 'Conference site'.

There are a number of other scenic attractions in Lushan, including a cave where a monk is supposed to have discovered the secret to immortality, and a botanical garden which swaps cuttings with Kew Gardens.

How to get there and where to stay
Lushan is not far from the town of Jiujiang (nine rivers) which is connected by rail to the city of Nanchang, with train services several times a day If you are travelling under the care of the CTS, you will be met at Jiujiang station and whisked away by car. If you are on your own, there is a hotel in Jiujiang called Nanhu Binguan (South Lake Guesthouse). There are no buses, so you have to walk from the station, or rent one of the small three-wheeler mini-vans which abound throughout China. Rooms in the guesthouse cost 20 yuan each. From Jiujiang to Lushan, there are public buses which leave at around 6.30 each morning and at one o'clock each afternoon. The bus station is about 15 minutes' walk from the Nanhu Binguan. Once in Lushan town, there are three guesthouses to choose from: the Lushan Binguan on Hexi Lu, about ten minutes' walk from the bus station, the Yunzhong Binguan on Xiangshan Lu, about 20 minutes' walk, and the Lu lin Fandian (hotel) at Lulinhu, about 30 minutes' walk. The Lushan Binguan, closest to the centre of town, is probably the best.

For those with a sense of history and a sufficient amount of money, cabin No. 180 at the Lushan Binguan was used by the late Generalis-simo Chiang Kaishek on several occasions. The paltry sum of 180 yuan will buy you a night in the Generalissimo's bed.