Xibaipo Memorial Museum

Xibaipo Memorial Museum sits in Xibaipo Town, Pingshan County, roughly 85 km north-west of Shijiazhuang in Hebei Province, beside the G207 road. The village served as the headquarters of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee from May 1948 until March 1949, and it was from here that leaders including Mao Zedong directed the final campaigns of the civil war before relocating to Beijing. The site is regarded in China as a place of revolutionary pilgrimage. The museum building houses exhibitions of photographs, documents, maps and personal belongings that describe the leadership's time in the village, while the preserved former residences and offices, including the simple houses used by Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Liu Shaoqi and Zhu De, are scattered through the village and show how modestly the leaders lived. The second plenary session of the Seventh Central Committee, held here in March 1949, is commemorated for its warning that the party must remain modest and hardworking. A full visit usually lasts three to four hours and is best treated as a half-day trip from Shijiazhuang, with time to walk between the museum, the meeting hall and the residences. The surrounding countryside and the nearby Hutuo River reservoir add scenic views. Crowds are generally largest on public holidays, around anniversaries and during school trips, so weekday mornings are calmer. Entry is free with a passport or ID, collected as a ticket at the visitor centre, and the site is open with a lunch break in the winter and summer schedules. Visitors can take a bus to Pingshan then a local bus or taxi, or drive via the G5 expressway for a faster trip.