Panshi 磐石市

Setting and landscape

The city government describes Panshi as hilly, semi-mountainous land drained by 65 rivers and streams. Rainfall averages 719 mm a year, rising from 624 mm in the northwest to 803 mm in the southeast. The fish the city lists as common in its waters include carp, crucian carp, catfish, black carp, Wuchang bream and loach.

History

The Hongshilazi anti-Japanese base (红石砬子抗日根据地) lies in the Hongshilazi hills at Hongshi village (红石村), north of the Panshi–Yitong road. Chinese Wikipedia describes it as the first anti-Japanese base the Chinese Communist Party set up in Northeast China. From 1933 the Panshi central county committee and the South Manchuria guerrillas led by Yang Jingyu (杨靖宇) ran a rear hospital and printing works there, and the guerrilla zone grew to cover Panshi, Yitong (伊通) and Shuangyang (双阳).

The main force broke out south in 1934 after Japanese attacks, while smaller units held on in the hills until 1936. The site was listed by Jilin province in 1981 and as a national key cultural relic site in 2019. Surveys by the Jilin provincial archaeology institute in 2021 recorded more than 3,000 features, including house sites, dugout shelters and fieldworks, and identified it as the largest group of Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army sites yet found.

What to see

The Panshi Museum (磐石市博物馆), which also carries the name Panshi Anti-Japanese Struggle Memorial Hall (磐石市抗日斗争纪念馆), moved in 2022 into a new building facing Xianren Lake (仙人湖). Its collection of more than 6,000 items includes archaeological finds from the Panshi area and objects excavated at the Hongshilazi base; 278 are on show in two floors of galleries.

Highlights

• Hongshilazi anti-Japanese base site 红石砬子抗日根据地: Guerrilla base from 1933; national key cultural relic site since 2019.
• Panshi Museum 磐石市博物馆: Opposite Xianren Lake since 2022; shows finds from the Hongshilazi base.