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With the summer approaching, more and more people have begun to drive to Beidaihe, a famous scenic spot and summer resort known for its mild climate and beautiful scenes, in the southwest of Qinhuangdao City, for weekend breaks. And the villas in which that many great Chinese used to live have become an additional attraction.
There are about 2,000 villas at Beidaihe. Many famous Chinese personages like He Xiangning and Chang Hsueh-liang, once lived there. With the passage of time, some of the buildings have been damaged, leaving only about 300 still well preserved.
Beginning from early this May, a great many Beijingers began visiting Beidaihe because of the villas there. A leading local tourism official said that the villas had become popular due to good promotion. People have to reserve them one week ahead, and the lodging ratio during peak times is as high as 80 percent.
It is reported that the villas are divided into four classes: super-luxury, luxury, standard and economy. Some villas that have once accommodated important foreign leaders are renting as high as 20,000 yuan a day, dropping to 5,000 yuan a day for those once occupied by famous Chinese. The rent for standard and economy units is between 300 and 400 yuan.
Some villas even have prepared kitchen utensils for travelers who can bring seafood there to cook by themselves.
He Xiangning
He Xiangning(1878-1972),a close comrade-in-arms of Dr. Sun Yat-sen as well as the wife-and-revolutionary-companion of Mr. Liao Zhongkai, was not only a prominent revolutionary and a political activist, but also a renowned painter enjoying high prestige both at home and abroad.
In the early years of the 20th century, under the leadership of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, He Xiangning, along with Mr. Liao Zhongkai, joined the Revolution of 1911 and participated in the struggle against the warlords in south and north China. Around 1924, they assisted Dr. Sun in formulating the revolutionary program of the new Three People's Principles, reorganizing
the Kuomintang and bringing about its cooperation with the Communist Party of China. After the failure of the Great Revolution in 1927, He Xiangning continued to adhere to Dr. Sun's three cardinal policies of alliance with Russia, cooperation with the Chinese Communist Party and assistance to
the peasants and workers. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, she strained her utmost efforts to oppose the Kuomintang government for its reactionary policy of national betrayal, dictatorship and civil war, and devoted herself to national salvation against Japanese aggression and the patriotic movement for democracy. During the War of Liberation, she allied democratic elements within the Kuomintang to establish the
Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang (RCCK) and responded to the call of the Chinese Communist Party for the convocation of a new political consultative conference. She made important and distinctive contributions to the founding of new China.
After the founding of new China, He Xiangning served successively as Member of the Central People's Government, Chairperson of the Committee for Overseas Chinese Affairs, Chairperson of RCCK, Honorary Chairperson of the All-China Women's Federation, Vice-Chairperson of the National
Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and Vice-Chairperson of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. She was also elected Chairperson of the Chinese Artists' Association.
She often painted pine tree, plum blossom, bamboo, lion, tiger and landscape to express her emotions and aspirations. Her works, permeated with a fighting will, are not only a record of the vicissitudes since the beginning of this century and an epitome of China's modern history, but also a vivid portrayal of her seventy-year-long career as revolutionary and her noble character and personality. Her works, which are of high attainments, are gems in the art world of Chinese national paintings.
Chang Hsueh-liang
Chang Hsueh-liang(1901-) was well known as "the Young Marshal" as he is the son of "Old Marshal" Chang Zuo-lin, the warlord of Northeast China from the 1911 Revolution until his death in a Kwantung Army bomb plot in 1928.
Chang Hsueh-liang and General Yang Hucheng arrested Chiang Kai-shek, KMT leader, in the famous Xi'an Incident on December 12, 1936, which was eventually settled peacefully with the efforts of the Communist Party of China (CPC). This incident impelled Chiang to fight together with the CPC against invading Japanese troops.
However, Chang was imprisoned by Chiang soon after the incident and spent decades under house arrest in Taiwan under the KMT until Chiang died in the 1970s. He now lives in Hawaii, the United States.
(www.shenbo75.com by unisumoon 06/06/2001 )
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