The Orange Isle scenic spot in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province Photo:VCG

As China's National Day just passed, I decided to review the book Red Star Over China, written by US journalist Edgar Snow in 1937. Snow trekked to the former revolutionary base Yan'an, in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, to explore Red China, and witnessed the great changes in China during his stay from 1928 to 1941.

In 1936, a group of Chinese people courageously fought the enemy on the land beneath our feet and vowed to defend the territory of the motherland. As a foreigner and journalist, the author wrote a book that showcases the tireless efforts made by the Communist Party of China(CPC)toward national liberation. It highlights their optimism, dedication, and the hard work embodied by the Red Army spirit. By doing a background check on the author, I learned that Snow was the first Western journalist to provide a comprehensive account of the history of the CPC following the Long March, including holding interviews with many of its leaders such as the late Chairman Mao Zedong.

The book tells the story of how the Red Army fought more than 660 battles throughout the Long March. I later conducted research and learned that, on average, for every kilometer of the march, three or four soldiers sacrificed their lives. The book provides readers with a rare and detailed account of the Chinese revolution in the 1930s. After reading the book, I conducted further research and discovered that according to the Xinhua News Agency, Snow devoted nearly a third of the book to a "red town" in Northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

In the book, I saw selflessness and optimism. Snow wrote: "It was impossible to deny recognition of the Long March as one of the great exploits of military history." Snow also translated the poem Seven Laws and the Long March by Mao Zedong as the epilogue in a chapter about the Long March: "The Red Army, never fearing the challenging Long March, looked lightly on the many peaks and rivers." 

By reading into the book, I believe one can truly understand the enduring spirit of the Red Army that lives on forever in our hearts.

I feel that Snow was a remarkable US journalist who risked his life to visit Chinese liberated areas. I also found out that the book Red Star Over China was adapted into a television series in 2016. I plan to review this series later and gain another general view of the whole story. I have traveled to the Orange Isle scenic spot in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province and visited the statue that depicts a young Mao Zedong in his prime in 1925, the year he wrote the famous poem Ju Zi Zhou Tou (lit: Orange Isle).

The author is a student at the Beijing No.2 Middle School