Ninety years after victory in the Long March, officers carry its legacy forward

Members of the Huining unit of the Baiyin detachment of the People's Armed Police Force in Gansu province participate in a miniature reenactment of the Long March in Huining county. XU WEI/FOR CHINA DAILY

A pair of scissors snips carefully through a sheet of red paper. With a few precise cuts, the silhouette of a Red Army soldier takes shape. It is a tactile echo of a journey that took place some 90 years ago.

In Huining, in Northwest China's Gansu province, history is never a distant abstraction. It is woven into the daily rhythm of soldiers like Xin Kaixuan, an officer in the Baiyin detachment of the People's Armed Police Force who leads a paper-cutting group with his comrades. For Xin, crafting figures of revolutionary veterans isn't just about preserving folk art; it is a way to bridge the gap between past endurance and present duty.

Xin, who has loved paper-cutting since childhood, began creating works depicting Red Army soldiers and scenes from the Long March after joining his unit eight years ago.

"Through paper-cutting, we can learn about the history of the Long March while passing on traditional culture in Huining," he said. "We also have calligraphy and reading groups, which give us more opportunities to learn about our history and culture."

Ninety years ago in October 1936, the First, Second and Fourth Front armies of the Red Army converged right here in Huining, sealing the victory of the Long March. Today, a new generation of soldiers faces a different kind of march: not across freezing snow mountains, but through the quiet, demanding grind of modern service, community building and safeguarding a changing land.