Retracing Long March: Gansu Herbs Set Sights on Hong Kong, Macao’s Soup Culture

On September 20, the Gansu media interview team of the Media Alliance of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area’s “Retracing the Long March" joint interview tour series visited the Hadapu Long March Memorial Museum, Hadapu Red Army Street, and the Laluliang 10,000-mu Chinese Herbal Medicine Planting Base in Dangchang County.

The Hadapu Long March Memorial Museum, Photo by Bastille Post

At these sites, the delegation learned about the historical process through which the Red Army obtained media information and made the major strategic decision to “march to northern Shaanxi,” while also gaining an in-depth understanding of the current status of medicinal herb cultivation and development in Gansu Province.

Exhibits at the Hadapu Long March Memorial Museum, Photo by Bastille Post

To mark the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Red Army’s Long March, the Hong Kong Federation of Journalists, the All-China Journalists' Association, the Guangdong Journalists Association and the Macao Journalists Association have launched a joint interview tour series titled “Retracing the Long March.” Following the Jiangxi tour and the Guizhou-Yunnan tour, the Shaanxi-Gansu tour is being held from September 18 to 24 in Gansu and Shaanxi provinces under the theme “Carrying Forward the Red Legacy of the Long March, Uniting the Synergy of the Greater Bay Area.”

Exhibits at the Hadapu Long March Memorial Museum, Photo by Bastille Post

On September 20, the interview team visited the Hadapu Long March Memorial Museum in Hadapu Town, Danchang County, Longnan City, Gansu Province.

Exhibits at the Hadapu Long March Memorial Museum, Photo by Bastille Post

Exhibits at the Hadapu Long March Memorial Museum, Photo by Bastille Post

Exhibits at the Hadapu Long March Memorial Museum, Photo by Bastille Post

The memorial museum is located along National Highway 212, 35 kilometers south of the county town, 35 kilometers north of Min County, and 70 kilometers west of Lazikou Pass, Diebu County. It was officially opened in October 1985 and offers free admission. The museum houses 52 revolutionary cultural relics. Hadapu holds an extremely important position and role in the history of the Red Army’s Long March. The First, Second, and Fourth Front Armies of the Red Army arrived in Hadapu twice, in September 1935 and September 1936, respectively. It was here that the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and Mao Zedong, former leader of the Chinese Communist Party, made the major strategic decision to set the landing point of the Long March in northern Shaanxi, the decision-making location that determined the fate of the Red Army’s Long March.

Zhang Jinqin, a docent at the Hadapu Long March Memorial Museum, Photo by Bastille Post

Zhang Jinqin, a docent at the Hadapu Long March Memorial Museum, said that before the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party reached Hadapu, the destination of the Long March was unclear, in a state that was “both clear and vague.” Mao Zedong was overjoyed only when the Tianjin edition of Ta Kung Pao was discovered at the Hadapu Postal Agency, carrying reports on the shift in the military situation in northern Shaanxi and information related to Liu Zhidan and Xu Haidong. Finally, on the morning of September 22, 1935,  the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and Mao Zedong convened a central leadership meeting. After deliberation, they decided to set the landing point of the Red Army’s Long March in northern Shaanxi. They formulated the strategic guideline of “making a feint to the east while attacking in the west, crossing the Wei River northward, and mounting a feigned attack on Tianshui.” Historians have summarized this as “one newspaper set the direction.” Hadapu is the place where “marching to northern Shaanxi” was formally decided, a decision that could be said to have changed the fate of the Communist Party of China.

Exhibits at the Hadapu Long March Memorial Museum, Photo by Bastille Post

Exhibits at the Hadapu Long March Memorial Museum, Photo by Bastille Post

The photo of Mao Zedong, Photo by Bastille Post

Zhang Jinqin pointed out that the Hadapu Long March Memorial Museum now receives 500,000 visitors annually, including study tour groups as well as Party members and cadres from Party organs. She said that what left the deepest impression on her were student groups from Sichuan, Shaanxi and Qingdao, with single visits hosting as many as 1,000 to 2,000 teenagers. As for visiting groups from Hong Kong, she said the museum had received three Hong Kong groups this year. Among them, the most memorable was a visit by the Hong Kong headquarters of Ta Kung Pao, forming a historical echo with the newspaper that helped establish the direction of “marching to northern Shaanxi” back then. She described the museum as a veritable “refuelling station,” with the goal of enabling visitors to take away the “spiritual nourishment” that Mao Zedong spoke of: not only physical refuelling, but also, more importantly, refuelling for the mind.

Exhibits at the Hadapu Long March Memorial Museum, Photo by Bastille Post

Exhibits at the Hadapu Long March Memorial Museum, Photo by Bastille Post

Afterwards, the interview team visited Hadapu Red Army Street. The street spans about 1,200 metres and is made up of 382 shops. It is the longest street the Red Army walked during the Long March and the most intact in preserving its original appearance. Seven revolutionary sites remain, including the former site of the “Yihechang” pharmacy, which served as Mao Zedong’s residence; the former site of the General Headquarters of the Second Front Armies of the Red Army; the postal agency; and the site of Tongshanshe. Among them, the Tongshanshe site was the residence of Zhou Enlai, Former Premier of the State Council. Zhang Jinqin recounted that Zhou Enlai took Chinese medicine at Tongshanshe to recuperate and was cured of a liver abscess there.

The Hadapu Red Army Street, Photo by Bastille Post

The Hadapu Red Army Street, Photo by Bastille Post

The shop along the Hadapu Red Army Street, Photo by Bastille Post

A large tree that has stood on the Hadapu Red Army Street since 1935, Photo by Bastille Post

The former site of the “Yihechang” pharmacy, which served as Mao Zedong’s residence, Photo by Bastille Post

The former site of the “Yihechang” pharmacy, which served as Mao Zedong’s residence, Photo by Bastille Post

The site of Tongshanshe, Photo by Bastille Post

The site of Tongshanshe, Photo by Bastille Post

In the afternoon, the interview team visited the Laluliang 10,000-mu Chinese Herbal Medicine Planting Base in Dangchang County. Located in southern Gansu Province, in the northwest of Longnan City, Dangchang County lies at the junction of the Min Mountains on the edge of the Qinghai–Xizang Plateau and the extended Western Qinling Mountains. With an average of nearly 2,000 hours of sunshine per year and an average temperature of 9.3°C, it falls within a temperate continental climate zone. Dangchang County has a long history of cultivating Chinese herbal medicines. A general survey has identified 692 varieties of medicinal herbs, of which 142 are commercially purchased, and more than 10 are grown on a relatively large scale. With its diverse, widely distributed, and abundant medicinal herb resources, Dangchang County is known as the “Millennium Herb Town” and “Natural Herb Treasury,” and is one of the most suitable growing areas for authentic Chinese medicinal materials in Gansu Province. In 2025, Hadapu Angelica, Dangchang Codonopsis, Dangchang Astragalus and Dangchang Rhubarb were recognised by the National Intellectual Property Administration as “National Geographical Indication Protected Products.” The planting area of major medicinal materials such as Angelica, Codonopsis, Astragalus and Rhubarb has remained stable at 400,000 mu year-round, including 265,000 mu of green standardised planting bases and about 100,000 mu of seedling breeding bases. Output reaches 120,000 tonnes, with a comprehensive output value of RMB 5.5 billion. In the main production areas, medicinal herb income accounts for more than 60% of herb farmers’ income. The planting area accounts for 0.8%, 10.3% and 41% of the national, provincial and municipal totals, respectively.

The Laluliang 10,000-mu Chinese Herbal Medicine Planting Base in Dangchang County, Photo by Bastille Post

The Laluliang 10,000-mu Chinese Herbal Medicine Planting Base in Dangchang County, Photo by Bastille Post

Ma Jihua of Qiang’aling Ecological Agriculture (Nanjing) Co., Ltd. said the company’s export value last year was about RMB 600,000, covering Hong Kong and Macao, except for Guangdong. The company’s products focus on Astragalus, Angelica and Codonopsis. He noted that the company sees Hong Kong as a distribution hub—local buyers purchase in bulk and then distribute to Chinese medicine wellness shops and small clinics, which in turn channel the products to Macao and Southeast Asia. In addition, he observed strong demand for health-preserving soups among Hong Kong residents, and that strict pre-import inspection and testing requirements have helped high-quality producers build a protection of product differentiation.

Ma Jihua of Qiang’aling Ecological Agriculture (Nanjing) Co., Ltd. Photo by Bastille Post

Asked about the advantages of Astragalus, Angelica and Codonopsis produced in Gansu, Ma Jihua cited the high altitude, large temperature difference between day and night, abundant sunshine, and the county’s location at the intersection of the Western Qinling Mountains and Min Mountains, which he considers a geographical landscape that cannot be replicated anywhere else in China. He said Gansu’s Astragalus, Angelica and Codonopsis are quality-assured, which stems from Gansu’s low-pollution environment, the use of fertilisers in compliance with national permits, and the local government’s strong attention to plant protection work.

The Laluliang 10,000-mu Chinese Herbal Medicine Planting Base in Dangchang County, Photo by Bastille Post

The Laluliang 10,000-mu Chinese Herbal Medicine Planting Base in Dangchang County, Photo by Bastille Post

Li Quanjun, head of Gansu Longyuan Herbal Biotechnology Enterprise, said that the enterprise started out in raw material slicing and decoction pieces, mainly supplying pharmaceutical factories; online sales are currently still dominated by Astragalus slices. However, he noted that pharmaceutical factories offer extremely low premium margins; compounded by the mountainous terrain, terraced farming requires significantly more labour input than large-field operations, driving up per-mu investment costs and squeezing the profit structure of the raw materials business. He said the enterprise will transition downstream to higher-value “new-style tea drinks / light wellness” categories to reshape product value.

Li Quanjun displays freshly picked Angelica. Photo by Bastille Post

The new-style tea drinks will feature 12 wellness tea beverages based on Astragalus, Codonopsis and Angelica, while the light wellness soup packs will target the soup culture favoured in Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Macao, with 36 varieties of frozen or ready-to-cook soup packs under development. Li Quanjun noted that tea pack sales revenue is about RMB 5 million per year, but given that the company currently has no actual sales channels in Hong Kong and Macao, it will seek opportunities to study the local food culture and explore possibilities for subsequent collaborative development.

To mark the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Red Army’s Long March, the Hong Kong Federation of Journalists, the All-China Journalists' Association, the Guangdong Journalists Association and the Macao Journalists Association have launched a joint interview tour series titled “Retracing the Long March.” Following the Jiangxi tour and the Guizhou-Yunnan tour, the Shaanxi-Gansu tour is being held from September 18 to 24 in Gansu and Shaanxi provinces under the theme “Carrying Forward the Red Legacy of the Long March, Uniting the Synergy of the Greater Bay Area.”

Nearly 50 journalists from mainstream media across the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area are following in the footsteps of the Red Army, visiting revolutionary sites and rural revitalisation demonstration sites. The tour aims to provide in-depth coverage of the revitalisation and development achievements of the former revolutionary base areas, to revisit the previous momentous years and to pool strength for moving forward.

The Jinchengguan Yellow River Cultural Tourism Block, Photo by Bastille Post

The Gansu media interview team made its first stop in Lanzhou, visiting the century-old landmark Zhongshan Bridge, renowned as the “First Bridge over the Yellow River.” The Zhongshan Bridge, an iron bridge spanning the Yellow River in Chengguan District, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, was built in 1907 and is 119 years old. Originally named the “Lanzhou Yellow River Iron Bridge,” it was later renamed “Zhongshan Bridge.” All construction materials were shipped from Germany to Tianjin in 1907, then transported to Lanzhou by the Gansu Foreign Affairs Bureau. The engineers were American W. T. Reeves and German De Rote, and the construction supervisor was Liu Yongqi from Tianjin. The workforce consisted mainly of 69 craftsmen, both Chinese and foreign, hired by German merchants. The bridge took three years to complete at a cost of over 306,000 taels of silver. Known as the “First Bridge over the Yellow River,” Zhongshan Bridge is 234 meters long and 7.5 meters wide. In old China, it was listed alongside the Daokou Iron Bridge in Jinan and the Zhengzhou Iron Bridge as one of the three major bridges over the Yellow River. In 1928, it was renamed “Zhongshan Bridge” in memory of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, a name that continues to be used today.

The Zhongshan Bridge, Photo by Bastille Post

The Jinchengguan Yellow River Cultural Tourism Block, Photo by Bastille Post

The Jinchengguan Yellow River Cultural Tourism Block, Photo by Bastille Post

The Zhongshan Bridge, Photo by Bastille Post

Ms. Ma Xuefang from Ningxia said she has long been active in the Lanzhou area. She considers Zhongshan Bridge a “must-visit place in Lanzhou” rather than an ordinary tourist attraction. She even regards the bridge as a fixed spot for recording family moments. On every visit, she takes photos, allowing her to witness her children growing up “from tiny to grown-up," creating a powerful sense of memory and a striking contrast across time. She mentioned that her grandfather had also spoken about Zhongshan Bridge, telling her stories of the Chinese Civil War.

Ms. Ma Xuefang from Ningxia, Photo by Bastille Post

The bridge also attracted visitors from Guangxi, including Ms. Tang, Mr. Chen, and Ms. Li, all visiting Lanzhou for the first time. Ms. Tang found it “remarkable” that Zhongshan Bridge remains in good condition after a century, contrasting this with the advanced level of modern Chinese infrastructure, which further highlights its historical significance.

Ms. Tang, Mr. Chen, and Ms. Li from Guangxi, Photo by Bastille Post

Mr. Chen praised Lanzhou beef noodles and hand-grabbed mutton as very delicious. Ms. Li affirmed the urban landscape and development speed of Northwest China, noting that the scale of Dunhuang Night Market “can compare with those in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou,” or is even larger. All three agreed that Lanzhou's prices are “about the same” as Guangxi’s, within an affordable range, and said they would visit Lanzhou again.

The Zhongshan Bridge, Photo by Bastille Post

The Zhongshan Bridge, Photo by Bastille Post

The Zhongshan Bridge, Photo by Bastille Post

The Zhongshan Bridge, Photo by Bastille Post