The position as an important port of China and the location near the capital city of Beijing has given Tianjin a significant role to play in the revolutionary history.

Beiping-Tianjin Memorial Hall

The Museum of the Beiping-Tianjin Campaign is on the western side of the bridge over the Ziya River in Tianjin. The museum occupies 47,000 square metres of ground and was completed and opened to the public in 1997.

The Exhibition Hall is magnificent in style and covers 17,000 square metres of floor space. It is divided into three sections, including the Prelude Hall, War History Hall and Special Subjects Hall. A group sculpture stands at the centre of the Prelude Hall against the background of a large wall painting. The history of the Beiping-Tianjin Campaign is told in the museum through photographs, relics and weapons.

The Beiping-Tianjin Campaign was a decisive campaign fought between November 29, 1948 and January 31, 1949, by the PLA Northeast Field Army, two armies of the North China Field Army and part of local armed forces against Kuomintang troops over an area extending from Zhangjiakou in the west to Tanggu and Tangshan in the east, including Beiping and Tianjin. The People's Liberation Army wiped out the defending Kuomintang forces in Xinbao'an, Zhangjiakou and Tianjin. Owing to efforts to win them over and as a result of negotiations, the defending enemy forces in Beiping, commanded by Fu Zuoyi, commander-in-chief of the enemy's North China "Bandit Suppression" Headquarters, accepted reorganization by the PLA, and Beiping was liberated peacefully. During the campaign more than 520,000 Kuomintang troops were wiped out or reorganized, and North China was liberated in the main. (Source: enorth.com)

Zhou Enlai and Deng Yingchao Memorial Hall

Dedicated to Zhou Enlai, who might be the most loved politician in the Chinese history, and his wife, Deng Yingchao, this memorial features many items from their home. The memorial focuses more on the famous couple's love for each other than on political matters. It is divided into three floors and five exhibition halls: reverence hall, all one's life hall, passion hall, airplane display hall and temporary hall and wax dolls of Premier Zhou and his wife on the 2nd floor.

Related Story: Remembering Zhou Enlai

Address: Water Park Road, Nankai District

Dagukou Emplacement

Dagukou Emplacement (Dagu Paotai), erected on the southern bank of the Hai River, is 60 kilometers southeast of the city proper. Originally there were forts on both sides of the river built in the sixteenth century, but in 1901, the one on the northern bank was ordered to be dismantled. The current one was first built during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD) and underwent several renovations in the Qing Period (1644-1911 AD). However, despite all the efforts the feudal emperors made to protect the city from invasion, the formidable-looking stronghold was not overly successful; the Europeans overrun the city with ease in the nineteenth century, causing further havoc to the capital and razing the Yuanmingyuan Garden to the ground. Today the fort is an interesting sight for a day trip, about 50km, from the city proper in a town called Tanggu. (Source: ctrip.com)

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