Hua Shan is a sacred mountain, and has been for thousands of years, but it is also a part of communist history. My Chinese friend who took me on this hike told me that this is the “true” entrance to the mountain, and was here that an important battle of the Chinese civil war took place. In 1949 seven soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army (Chinese Communist Party CCP) used this route to hike to the north peak where they ended up capturing over 100 Kuomintang soldiers (now called Chinese National People’s Party). This victory is a point of great pride in the CCP, and many CCP supporters visit Hua Shan to see where this battle took place. The PLA had the mountain pass in their favor, and they had a mountain guide.

Hua Shan, China