(Photo: VCG)

Upon China's Qingming Festival of remembering those who left us, people pay tribute to past heroes who laid the foundation for a brighter future. Today we introduce five renowned cemetery parks in China where heroes and martyrs rest their souls. They are the Guangzhou Uprising Martyrs Cemetery, Yuhuatai Memorial Park of Martyrs, Babaoshan Martyrs Cemetery, Jinjiluyu Martyrs Cemetery and the Jinggangshan Martyrs Cemetery. 

Guangzhou Uprising Martyrs Cemetery

Guangzhou Uprising Martyrs Cemetery was built in memory of the 5,700 martyrs who sacrificed their lives in the Guangzhou Uprising led by the Communist Party of China on December 11, 1927.

Guangzhou Uprising, Nanchang Uprising and Autumn Harvest Uprising signaled the beginning of the independent armed revolution led by the CPC as well as a great attempt to establish a red political power in a big city for the first time. 

As written on the cemetery's official website, "Spanning an area of 186,000 square meters, the cemetery is divided into two zones - the cemetery and the garden. The cemetery, surrounded by green pine trees and red flowers, highlights serenity and solemnity with famous buildings such as The Monument to Guangzhou Uprising, The Tomb of Guangzhou Commune Martyrs, The Tomb of Marshal Ye Jianying, The Tomb of "Four Martyrs," Main Entrance Arch, as well as the Cemetery Avenue. The garden boasts a typical architectural style of Lingnan gardens with rich greenery and landscape."

Travel Tips:

Address: No. 92 Zhongshan Second Road, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China.

Transportation: Take subway  Line 1, and get off at the "Martys Cemetery" station.

Yuhuatai Memorial Park of Martyrs

Yuhuatai Memorial Park of Martyrs is located in the south of Zhonghuamen Gate, Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province. It is built on a mountain of about 60 meters high and 1000 meters long. The place was named "Yuhuatai" for its colorful pebbles and a Buddhism story about "flowers falling like rain" in ancient Chinese history. "Yu" means rain, "hua" flower, and "tai" means platform.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Yuhuatai Memorial Park of Martyrs was built in 1950 to memorize the martyrs and inspire the future generations. 

The cemetery has natural forests and historical sites, with the martyrs' cemetery as the main body, functioning for education and sightseeing purposes. There are 270,000 trees of 238 kinds in the park. Main architects are the revolutionary martyrs' monument, memorial hall, martyrs group sculpture, monument gallery, memorial bridge, martyrs' tombs, red scarf square and Yuhuashi museum. 

The monument was built on the main peak, and the memorial hall displays the heroic deeds of 127 martyrs. The monument gallery is made up of 180 pieces of granite, engraved with excerpts from three classic works including "The Communist Manifesto," totaling 47,043 Chinese characters.