A 54-km march of remembrance: Guyuan's 31-year walking civics class

The students set off from downtown Guyuan at 5 am. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Over 3,000 people set off from downtown Guyuan, Ningxia Hui autonomous region, at 5 am on April 3, on a 108-li (54-km) round-trip hike to honor revolutionary martyrs. This "walking civics class" has continued for 31 years, with a cumulative participation of over 30,000 people.

This year marks the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Red Army's Long March. The group marched toward the Renshanhe Martyrs Cemetery in Pengyang county, more than 50 kilometers away. The rugged mountain trail took about 17 hours to complete.

Since 1995, students from Guyuan No 2 Middle School and Hongwen Middle School have hiked from downtown to the martyrs' cemetery every year on the eve of the Qingming Festival to pay tribute to the fallen heroes.

The students walk along the mountain trail. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

This mountain trail was once soaked with the blood of revolutionary martyrs. The People's Liberation Army fought the first battle to liberate Ningxia in the area of Renshanhe. The Renshanhe Martyrs Cemetery is the resting place of over 300 revolutionary martyrs.

Upon arriving at the Renshanhe Martyrs Cemetery, the group stood in silence before the monument to pay tribute. They also laid wreaths and wiped clean the headstones of the martyrs' graves.

The students present flowers at the graves of the revolutionary martyrs. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

One student participating in the event said, "This is my first time taking part in a hiking activity. Having experienced some of this hardship myself, I have come to admire even more the martyrs of the Long March."