The themed cultural park under construction in Guangyuan is set to commemorate the Fourth Front Red Army in the Long March. [Photo/share.gyxww.cn]

The district of Lizhou in Guangyuan, Southwest China's Sichuan province, has pressed ahead with the construction of a themed cultural park in commemoration of the participation of the Fourth Front Red Army in the Long March (1934-36).

The Long March was a massive military operation undertaken by the Red Army, the forerunner of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA), to retreat from its revolutionary bases in southern Jiangxi province and escape the encirclement and pursuit of the Kuomintang army, before reaching its final destination in Yan'an of northwestern Shaanxi province.

A glance at the construction site [Photo/share.gyxww.cn]

Guangyuan is also an integral part of the Sichuan-Shaanxi Revolutionary Base.

Statistics show that about 47,000 people from Guangyuan joined the Red Army and that the city was home to five people of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and 10 PLA generals in history.

Workers are busy in bricklaying. [Photo/share.gyxww.cn]

With an investment of 25 million yuan ($3.64 million), the construction of the cultural park included the installation of nighttime lighting, the renovation of the Red Army Tower, roads for visitors and vehicles, and a memorial corridor, as well as the building of a Red Star Pavilion and Sightseeing Platform, ecological conservation, and the installation of intelligent systems.

The cultural park is scheduled to open to the public in May.