Zhazidong concentration camp (1592) Chongqing

Zhazidong concentration camp (1592) Chongqing

For a domestic Chinese tourist, no Chongqing Tour is complete without visiting Zhazidong prison. The site of Zhazidong Prison was covertly set up in 1943 by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) with the help of the Sino-American Cooperation Organization (SACO). It is located in Gele Mountains, northwest of Chongqing.

Zhazidong was a coal mine turned prison with 16 wards for men and 2 for women holding 300 prisoners at most. There were also torture chambers, the rooms for officers and guides. This was the place where Communists were massacred and tortured by Nationalist Party during the Chinese Civil War between 1945 and 1949.

Less than two months after the founding of the People’s Republic of China proclaimed by Chairman Mao Ocobter 1, 1949, a fire was set to the men prison wards, on Nov 27, 1949, slaughtered all the communists but 15 who managed to break through the walls and escaped.

Now the site of Zhazidong Prison has been turned to a museum, a “Red Revolution Education Site” for the new generations. Nearly all the Chinese people more or less know about the stories behind Zhazidong Prison. I can still recall an article in my high school reccording the story about the youngest martyr – Song Zhengzong.

He was only one year old when he was arrested with his Mom. He didn’t know the taste of a candy or sweets. He grew skiny and bony due to the lack of nutrition. His nickname was “Little Radish” simply because his head looked big with a thin body.