Rural Housing Project Changes Landscapes and Lives.docVIP

Rural Housing Project Changes Landscapes and Lives 　　XIBAIPO in Hebei Province wasa small village of some 100people, but became a focusof national attention in the1940s. Local farmers were staunch Communist supporters. The rolling TaihangMountains to the west and broad HutuoRiver on its south side provided a naturaldefense for this hard-working community that always nurtured abundant harvests. As the revolutionary strongholdsin Hebei and neighboring provinces converged with the growing league of Communist territories, Xibaipo was selectedto be the new command center of theCommunist Party of China in 1948. 　　 　　The Last CPC Rural CommandCenter Before National Victory 　　 　　In May 1947 the CPC Central Committee Work Committee moved to Xibaipo from Yan’an. In July it convened anational land conference, which adoptedthe Land Law Outline. Accordingly landreforms were unfurled in Communistcontrolled areas, over a period of oneyear distributing plots to lOO millionpeasants and consequently winning theirfull support for the People’s LiberationArmy, which immediately saw a big leapin enlistment. 　　Shijiazhuang was liberated on November 19,1947, connecting two liberatedareas-Jin-Cha-Ji, which straddled Hebei, Chahar and Shanxi provinces, andJin-Ji-Lu-Yu, which encompassed partsof Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong and Henanprovinces. On May 26, 1948 the CPCCentral Committee and the PLA Headquarters, both headed by Mao Zedong,moved to Xibaipo, turning the isolatedhamlet into the new nerve center of theCommunist forces. 　　CPC Central Committee offices werehoused in a walled compound of adobehouses, which still stand on the site. Agiant military map hangs in the No.1 Bureau of the Central Military Commission.In times of destitution even things likecolor pencils were a luxury, so the cartographers marked the map with red andblue wool strands. The harsh conditionsnever made a dent in the confidenceand zeal of CPC leaders or rank and filemembers. It is in these Spartan officeswith t