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Last time we spoke about the second phase of the One Hundred Regiment Offensive.  During the second phase of the Hundred Regiments offensive, CCP forces emphasized strongpoint and transportation warfare across the Taihang/Jizhong area. Units were organized with wings containing Japanese positions while a central force struck deeper, as in the Renhe Dasu fighting in early October 1940. Night raids seized strongholds, while engineers and sabotage teams disrupted roads, bridges, and mobility, and ambushes targeted Japanese foraging and supply routes. Across these theaters, the strategy was consistent: make Japanese control porous by destroying or capturing local nodes and forcing constant repairs, re-routing, escorts, and slowed reinforcement, so occupation logistics and strongpoint networks could not function reliably. This approach supported wider offensives by isolating strongpoints, draining enemy strength, and giving Communist base areas room to endure and expand.   #204 The One Hundred Regiment Offensive Phase Three Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. After the two large-scale offensives carried out over wide areas of North China, the Japanese army did what it always did when control started to slip: it tried to turn mobile pressure back into something it could "manage" again. The Eighth Route Army's continued fighting had shown that Japanese-occupied space was not secure, and that base areas could still resist, strike, and persist even while under counterpressure. That was dangerous for occupation. If the enemy could keep operations going, Japanese lines of movement stayed uncertain and "stabilization" became a temporary illusion. To prevent the situation from worsening and to re-stabilize the occupied areas as quickly as possible, the Japanese mobilized heavy forces and launched retaliatory counter–"mopping-up" operations against anti-Japanese base areas in North China beginning October 6. The Japanese attempt wasn't only to punish; it was designed to take advantage of an asymmetry: the Eighth Route Army was striking and fighting continuously, and it did not have the luxury of resting, replenishing, and re-cohering as neatly as a garrison army might. Japanese commanders hoped that if they struck hard enough in enough places, the Communist main forces could be isolated, destroyed, or at least forced into a defensive posture that would break their operational tempo. At Liaodong and Yulin, Japanese reinforcements also created a second political-military stake. After the Yuliao Campaign ended, the Eighth Route Army headquarters issued instructions on October 1 to major regions, warning that enemy reinforcements in Liaodong and Yulin might use the opening to "sweep" the Taibei region. In the Communist operational mind, this wasn't just one threat; it was a pattern. A "sweep" could come as a wave that pushed inward, burned villages, destroyed supplies, and tried to force Communist forces out of their protected networks. Even if the offensive couldn't win a conventional decisive battle, it could aim to strip the base areas of people, food, and mobility—things that make guerrilla and strongpoint warfare possible. By October 19, 1940, the Eighth Route Army headquarters issued a counter–"mopping-up" operation plan, and civilian and military authorities in various regions launched counter-"mopping-up" operations accordingly. This is important background: in these campaigns, "mopping-up" was not only an army activity. The Japanese were attempting to break the base system itself—its logistics, its local administration, and the relationship between armed units and civilians who hid, moved, fed, and replaced them. So the counter-operations had to be just as systemic. The Communists needed to keep people alive, keep movement possible, and keep the enemy from consolidating inside a cleared space. In southeastern Shanxi's Taihang and Taiyue regions, the Japanese 1st Army aimed to strike the main force of the 129th Division and destroy anti-Japanese base areas by running a series of mopping operations from October 6 to December 5. The plan had a typical occupation logic: push through strongholds gradually, clear pockets methodically, and rely on local superiority—especially in manpower, logistics, and the ability to reinforce by road. And because the Communist main force had been operating without meaningful rest after the earlier offensives, the Japanese believed they could catch formations while they were still "in between battles." On October 6, in the Taihang region, more than 800 enemy troops from Wu'an in western Hebei began a "mopping-up" operation in the Yangyi area. By October 11, the Japanese posture escalated. Part of the Japanese Independent Mixed 4th Brigade departed from Liaoxian and Wuxiang, while part of the 36th Division departed from Lucheng and Xiangyuan; together they totaled over 3,000 troops. Coordinating from north and south, they carried out operations to "mop up" both banks of the Zhuozhang River between Yulin, Liaoxian, and Wuxiang, encircling and clearing the south side of the Yulin–Liaoxian highway. This emphasis on riverbanks and highway corridors reveals the Japanese method: move along terrain that controls movement, then compress enemy options until the defenders have to fight inside a narrowing space. The counter to that method required more than bravery. The Eighth Route Army's 385th and 386th Brigades, along with the 1st Column of the Decisive Battle, fought on inner lines—where they could move more rapidly between known local positions and threaten the enemy's flanks or supply behavior. Meanwhile the New 10th Brigade fought on outer lines, where it could intercept, delay, and force the enemy to spend time reacting instead of clearing. By the morning of October 15, the New 10th Brigade delivered a concrete example of that interception strategy. Two regiments ambushed an enemy motor-transport convoy at Gongjiagou on the Heliao Highway, destroying more than 40 vehicles and annihilating more than 100 Japanese soldiers escorting the convoy. The meaning of a convoy ambush is strategic even when the numbers are modest: vehicles represent speed, logistics, and reinforcement. If the enemy loses vehicles repeatedly, "mopping" becomes slower, and slower clearing creates openings for the defenders to reorganize, disperse, or shift main effort. After that, on October 17, the enemy forces that had been mopping up the convoy withdrew in different directions. Withdrawal in multiple directions is a sign that the Japanese clearing operation, meant to compress a space, had instead been forced into a reactive mode. It also hints at a recurring pattern in these years: Japanese units could clear what was already weak, but when defenders hit their movement corridors, the occupiers had to spend time and combat power simply to recover mobility. The next major sweep began October 20, 1940, and it was much larger. Nearly 10,000 troops—from the 36th Division and Independent Mixed Brigade No. 4—set off from multiple locations, including Wu'an, Liaoxian, Wuxiang, and Lucheng, to sweep the area east and west of the Qingzhang River, focusing on land between Matian and Zuohui. Crucially, that was not random ground. The Japanese sought to strike the CCP Central Committee Northern Bureau, the Eighth Route Army headquarters, and the 129th Division headquarters, along with party and government organs of the Jin-Ji-Yu Border Region, located together with Shexian and Piancheng. In other words, the Japanese targeted not just armed units but the political-administrative heart that makes base areas function. Once in the attack area, the Japanese carried out "mopping-up" operations paired with burning and killing for several days. That brutality wasn't only cruelty; it served a purpose. Burning villages, destroying crops, and killing civilians could deny the base area food and shelter while making local cooperation more difficult. Then, on October 26, the Japanese began to withdraw and carried out mopping-up in different areas on the way back. The base area was "severely damaged and destroyed," indicating that even when the Japanese didn't annihilate the main Communist force, they could still achieve degradation—hurting the system they needed to keep operating. But the Communists were not simply absorbing damage. On October 29, a force of over 500 men from the 36th Division, plus over 400 supply and laborers, was mopping up Huangyandong and advanced through Zuohui to Guanjia'nao east of Panlong, preparing to return to Wuxiang. This is where counter-mopping becomes operationally dangerous for the occupier. Supply and labor detachments move differently from combat formations, and they represent an enemy's assumption that the base area is being "cleared." The Eighth Route Army headquarters ordered, at 1:00 p.m., for the 129th Division to concentrate its main force to annihilate the enemy. That night, the 129th Division—uniting the main forces of the 385th and 386th Brigades, parts of the New 10th Brigade, and the First Column of the Death Squad—surrounded the enemy at Guanjia'nao with a plan to launch a general offensive at 4:00 a.m. The besieged enemy, besides quickly building fortifications, seized Fengkengding high ground southwest of Guanjia'nao under cover of darkness. The two high points helped defenders support one another and resist stubbornly. The battle lasted until dawn on October 31, when most of the enemy had been annihilated, leaving only more than 60 men to hold positions. Then reinforcements arrived—over 1,500 from Huangyandong—supported by more than 10 aircraft. The 129th Division withdrew, and the remaining enemy fled toward the flood, leaving behind more than 280 corpses. By then, most Japanese troops had withdrawn from the central base area. The background stake is clear: "mopping-up" could damage and burn, but if defenders could convert the Japanese attempt into a trap—especially when enemy units had become separated from their core and committed to clearing—they could turn a destructive operation into a costly one for the occupier. In early November, the Japanese continued. In Licheng south of Taihang, Japanese forces invaded Nanweiquan and Beiweiquan and then Xijing. Elsewhere, Japanese forces in Xiangyuan invaded Panlong via Xiying, attempting to attack Dongtian and the area around Zhuanbi, where the Eighth Route Army headquarters was located. In that moment, the 386th Brigade was ordered to rush to the north–south line of Damocun, east of Panlong, block the invading enemy, and cover the transfer of the Eighth Route Army headquarters. At 9:00 a.m. on November 3, 1940, fierce fighting broke out as the troops finished deploying near Damocun. The Japanese launched continuous attacks and captured some positions. The 386th Brigade held until 4:00 a.m. on November 4, then withdrew after the headquarters successfully moved. The Japanese attempt to launch a pincer attack failed, and they retreated to the Baijin Line on November 5. Even when Japanese action couldn't be fully blocked, the counter's aim was not only tactical survival but prevention of strategic encirclement—protecting the central institutions and preserving the ability to fight again. In the northern Taihang region, more than 2,500 enemy troops from Heshun arrived in Yushe on November 3 via Hanwang Town and Changcheng Town, reinforcing Japanese forces in the Yu, Liao, and Wu areas. Then they carried out repeated mopping operations south of the Yuliao Highway, including Jiangtang, Lingshang, Songjiazhuang, Guojiao, and Dayouyi. Harassment and attacks by military and civilians forced Japanese troops back into their strongholds by the 13th. A "40-day" counter-mopping operation in Taihang came to an end. The term "40-day" isn't only calendar time; it suggests that these were not one-off battles but sustained campaigns of movement, dispersal, and repeated harassment meant to drain the enemy's capacity. Starting November 17, the Japanese launched a multi-pronged attack on Qinyuan and the area north of Guodao Town. The attack involved part of the 37th Division from Qin County and Nanguan Town, part of the Independent Mixed Brigade from Pingyao, Jiexiu, and Huo County, and a battalion of the 41st Division from Hongdong—more than 7,000 troops deployed to attack Qinyuan and the north area. But the Taiyue Military Region response shows how the Communist counter-mopping wasn't always to meet force with force. To avoid the enemy's "sharp edge," the Taiyue Military Region formed two detachments—Qin East and Qin West—with leadership and main force moving to both sides of the Qin River outside the Japanese attack zone, targeting scattered Japanese troops instead of being fixed into a single killing field. By November 23, due to harassment by local armed forces, the Japanese reached the attack zone and then carried out dispersed mopping operations. Qinyuan County was the most severely damaged, with more than 5,000 people killed (about one-tenth of its population), nearly 10,000 livestock killed and over 7,000 stolen, and 30,000 to 40,000 houses destroyed. Those details are brutal, but they explain why background stakes mattered: "mopping-up" was meant to break the social base. If civilians died or fled, the guerrilla system became harder to sustain. The response from the Dayue Military Region seized the opportunity created by Japanese dispersal. On November 23, the 42nd Regiment of the Qinxi Detachment annihilated more than 100 Japanese soldiers in Guantan. On November 27, parts of the 42nd and 59th Regiments killed or wounded more than 160 in Huhanping and Mabei. The Qindong Detachment's 17th and 57th Regiments inflicted serious damage in a series of places—Guang'ao, Chenjiagou, Longfosi, Wuyuanzhen, Nanweicun, Nanli, and more. The 17th Regiment's battle at Longfosi annihilated more than 100 Japanese. Additional heavy losses were inflicted by the 212th Brigade in Jiaokou. By December 5, the Japanese were forced to withdraw from the Taiyue area in separate routes. Strategically, dispersal punished the occupier because scattered units are harder to protect and easier to ambush. Across the Jin-Cha-Ji Border Region, anti-"mopping-up" operations unfolded gradually, beginning with the Pingxi area, the first target of the Japanese on the path toward the Japanese-held headquarters and rail lines. Pingxi mattered because it directly threatened the headquarters of the Japanese North China Area Army and Beiping—the puppet regime's center—and also threatened the Pinghan and Pingsui railways, North China's main transportation lines. So Pingxi became an operational priority: if the occupier couldn't keep the rail network secure, their ability to reinforce and supply their own strongpoints suffered. On October 13, 1940, more than 10,000 Japanese and puppet troops attacked Sanpo, the central area of the Pingxi base area, in 10 routes. This attack used a methodical, steady approach: advance gradually, rely on strongholds, and cover 5 to 10 kilometers each day. In response, the Pingxi Military Sub-district countered using timely maneuvers of its main forces and extensive guerrilla warfare. Over more than a week of fighting, the enemy was constantly harassed and attacked, wearing them down. Although Japanese troops penetrated deep, they failed to identify the main force's movements. By November 21, when the encirclement tightened further, the Pingxi main force jumped out from the Sanpo area and moved southwest. Encountering the enemy at Pengtou, it then moved to the Yegu and Datai line east of Bancheng. After the Japanese entered the Sanpo area, they conducted widespread burning and killing and looted grain. Starting from the 23rd, the Japanese retreated in different routes. By the end of October, the main force had withdrawn from Pingxi, but more than 2,000 troops remained in the Pingxi anti-Japanese base area to build strongholds and roads. Strongholds were added in places like Changping and Wanping—14 strongholds alone—and villages such as Dongzhaitang and Dujiazhuang came under their control. The base area began to shrink and shrink. That shrinkage is the other background stake: even when guerrilla forces avoid annihilation, the occupier may still carve away space through fortification. On October 19, 1940, the Eighth Route Army headquarters instructed that enemy attacks in Pingxi and Taihang might turn around and attack the Beiyue area. The Jin-Cha-Ji Border Region needed to prepare quickly to crush these "mopping-up" operations, coordinating Party, government, military, and civilians and conducting in-depth combat mobilization. The main force should assemble in appropriate positions and prepare to annihilate one or two enemy forces decisively. The headquarters also instructed the 129th and 120th Divisions to cooperate actively. By November 9, 1940, the Japanese struck again in a massive sweep. The 110th Division, along with other units and more than 14,000 puppet troops, launched a "mopping-up" operation in the jurisdiction of the 1st Military Sub-district. The Japanese and puppet troops moved in coordinated lines: along the line of Yi County, Dalonghua, Wang'an Town, Laiyuan, and Chajianling from north to south, while those in Baoding and Mancheng moved east to west. The intent was to squeeze Communist sub-district forces into a narrow area for a decisive battle. On November 10, the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region issued operational guidelines and deployments for countering "mopping-up" operations. By the 12th, in response to Japanese widespread burning and killing, it further instructed that without hindering mobility, the main force could disperse a portion of troops—no more than one-third—to strike resolutely at attempts to burn and kill. That instruction captures the balance commanders tried to strike: disperse too much and you lose power; disperse too little and you become trapped by the occupier's brutality. The Japanese then attempted to pressure multiple places. On November 9, more than 6,000 enemy troops from Laiyuan, Yixian, and Baoding attacked Guantou, Yinfang, Huangtuling, and Shenbei. On the 12th, their attack failed; they burned and killed people before retreating in different routes. At that time, the 1st Military Sub-district assembled the 1st and 25th Regiments to intercept them. One enemy force of more than 800 was intercepted on the 14th as it retreated from Wujiazhuang to Yuangang; some were killed or wounded. Even so, the enemy broke through under aircraft cover and retreated to Guantou. On the way, it was intercepted again by the 20th Regiment, suffering heavy casualties, and it fled back to Mancheng. Then on November 13, more than 2,700 Japanese and puppet troops attacked the 3rd Military Sub-district; on November 14, about 2,600 advanced from Dingxiang, Dongye, and Wutai toward Fuping and its southwest area in two routes. The Japanese attacked with east-west coordination, launching joint attacks on Taiyu north of Fuping. The Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region headquarters and the command organs of the 3rd and 5th military sub-districts, along with the 2nd, 3rd, and 6th regiments and other troops, transferred to the outer line before the enemy encirclement formed. On the 16th, the Japanese launched a joint attack again on Taiyu and Zhangjiayu, and the guerrillas who failed to transfer fought hard. Commander Wang Pu and Deputy Director of the Political Department Hao Yuming were killed, and troops suffered more than 100 casualties. On November 18, the enemy from Taiyu quickly occupied Hanping City. By the 21st, enemy forces from Daying via Shentangbao and Wuwangkou, and from Wutai via Taihuai, Shizui, Longquanguan, and Xiaguan, also gathered in Fuping City. After occupying Fuping, the Japanese launched repeated attacks "sweeping" areas under the jurisdiction of the 3rd Military Sub-district from both inward and outward strongholds, conducting brutal burning and killing and destruction. On the night of November 21, the 2nd Regiment dispatched more than 30 men to raid Dangcheng and attack Japanese barracks with grenades. The Japanese panicked and fired guns and cannons all night. On the 26th, four plainclothes officers infiltrated Baoding and attacked a theater where the Japanese army was holding a meeting, causing panic among the Japanese. The enemy that had invaded the base area withdrew in different routes on the 25th. By December 3, 1940, most Japanese troops had withdrawn from the Beiyue area, but more than 1,000 remained along lines including Fuping, Wangkuai, Dangcheng, and Quyang to continue building points and roads in an attempt to occupy the area long-term. To force the enemy back, eliminate occupied points, and completely crush Japanese and puppet "mopping-up," the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region organized the Fuping–Wangkuai Campaign starting December 9, with the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 6th regiments participating. At 21:00 on December 14, the 6th Regiment attacked enemy forces in Dongzhuang. The 1st Battalion captured three fortified positions on the north mountain of Dongzhuang and rushed into the village, only for Japanese counterattacks to recapture fortified positions and kill or wound more than 170 Japanese during the counterfight. The 4th Regiment attacked the enemy in Fuping; the 2nd Regiment and guerrilla forces entered Dangcheng and Lingshan. On the 21st, more than 130 enemy soldiers escorting more than 100 pack animals carrying military supplies reached Wangkuai and were completely annihilated when they reached Wanglinkou. By December 26, an ambush in the Xuancun area of the Pinghan Railway destroyed 14 Japanese trains and their vehicles as well as three heavy artillery pieces. On the 27th, more than 1,200 enemy troops advancing from Dongzhuang in Fuping were attacked in Luoyu and Tumen, suffering more than 140 casualties. The remaining Japanese withdrew from Fuping, Dongzhuang, and Wangkuai starting New Year's Day 1941. By January 4, the 55-day anti-"mopping-up" campaign had basically ended, with the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region killing and wounding more than 2,000 Japanese and puppet troops while suffering 1,382 casualties itself. These numbers and dates show why background and stakes matter: the counter-mopping effort wasn't short. It was sustained, operationally demanding, and required continued offensive action even while facing superior Japanese resources. The pressure didn't end there. From October 25 to early November, about 4,000 Japanese troops, including the 16th Independent Mixed Brigade, launched a mopping operation in the Miyu and Loufan areas of the 8th and 3rd military sub-districts in northwestern Shanxi, but they were attacked by local soldiers and civilians. In mid-December, Japanese forces transferred additional strength: parts of the 37th Division from southern Shanxi and the 41st Division from southeastern Shanxi, along with parts of the 3rd, 9th, and 16th Independent Mixed Brigades and the 26th Division from northwestern Shanxi—totaling more than 20,000 troops—to prepare for a full-scale mopping operation in northwestern Shanxi. After the second phase of the Hundred Regiments Offensive ended, the 120th Division anticipated retaliation and actively prepared for counter-mopping. On October 30, the division was ordered to establish the Jin-Northwest Military Region, and on November 7, the military region was established in Lijiawan, Xing County. The Jin-Northwest Military Region had direct military sub-districts and six military sub-districts: the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 8th, and Yanbei. Then the occupier escalated. Starting December 14, 1940, the Japanese launched a full-scale mopping operation against the Jin-Northwest region. More than 5,000 enemy troops invaded the Mi-Yu Town area of the 8th Military Sub-district, more than 4,000 invaded Lin-Xian, and more than 6,000 attacked Xing-Xian and the area south of Bao-De from strongholds such as Lan-Xian and Qi-Lan. By December 23, Japanese forces had occupied all county towns, most market towns, and Yellow River crossings in the Jin-Northwest region except for Bao-De and He-Qu counties, and began to implement a systematic policy commonly described as the "Three Alls" policy. The "Three Alls" emphasis is the clearest expression of stakes turning lethal. Japanese troops and traitors disguised themselves as the Eighth Route Army to lure and kill masses. They sent out core detachments to attack and repeatedly sweep the area, seeking to annihilate party, government, and military leadership organs—focusing on destroying the rear organs and facilities that made Communist endurance possible. According to incomplete statistics, more than 5,000 people were brutally killed during these sweeps. In Xingxian County alone, 150,000 catties of grain were looted and burned; in the 4th Military Sub-district, more than 5,000 head of livestock were looted and killed; and more than 19,000 houses and cave dwellings were burned down. In the early stage of this anti-mopping campaign, the Jin-Sui Military Region mainly used a portion of its forces to cooperate with local troops and guerrillas in widespread guerrilla warfare. They harassed and contained the attacking enemy, disrupted enemy transportation, and covered the transfer of the masses. The main force avoided the enemy's sharp edge and moved to the outer line to seek opportunities to attack the Japanese army. This describes the classic guerrilla operational pattern: avoid being fixed into a single decisive trap, but create enough friction that enemy operations degrade into a struggle they can't sustain. repeated attacks and ambushes during the mopping period across Miyu Town and other areas—units striking repeatedly, destroying roads, cutting off enemy transportation, and attacking enemy strongholds north of Dawu. To thwart the Japanese army's plans to build roads and fortifications—plans that would make future sweeps easier—the Jin-Sui Military Region instructed, on December 27, all sub-districts to mobilize forces to disrupt Japanese road construction and fortification. The 358th Brigade attacked enemy road construction from Lanxian to Dashetou and from Puming to Chijianling; the Independent 1st Brigade sabotaged the Dawu–Linxian highway; and the 4th Column of the Death Squad sabotaged the Dawu–Fangshan highway. Part of the Independent 1st Brigade's 2nd Regiment organized over 2,000 civilians to sabotage the Dawu–Sanjiao highway twice, forcing the enemy in Linxian to detour through Fangshan to contact Lishi. The Lishi guerrillas led civilians in two sabotage attacks on the Lishi–Jundu highway, destroying over 30 "li" of road. Other units attacked strongholds along key highways and destroyed or disrupted the "maintenance committees" that surrounded newly built enemy strongholds. There were also direct raids—storming into Linxian County and capturing representatives of enemy maintenance organizations. Meanwhile, the Workers' and Patriots' Brigade carried out continuous sabotage on the Taifen Highway. As the enemy plans ran into persistent disruption, Japanese and puppet forces began to retreat in different routes starting January 2, 1941, and by January 24 they returned to their original strongholds. The Jin-Sui winter counter-mopping operation lasted 40 days, annihilated more than 2,500 enemy troops, destroyed 125 kilometers of roads and 23 bridges, and recovered all towns occupied by the enemy during the campaign. Here the stakes show through most clearly: the campaign was not merely about killing enemy troops. It was about preventing the occupier from building a durable, road-connected grid that would allow future sweeps to be faster, larger, and more decisive. At the wider campaign level, the Eighth Route Army also recorded its total effects from August 20 to December 5, covering roughly three and a half months. During that period, the Eighth Route Army fought 1,824 battles of varying sizes, killing or wounding 20,645 Japanese soldiers (including senior officers), killing or wounding 5,155 puppet troops, and capturing 281 Japanese soldiers and 18,407 puppet troops. 47 Japanese soldiers surrendered voluntarily, and 1,845 puppet troops defected, totaling 46,380 people. The Communists captured 5,942 guns and 53 artillery pieces, and destroyed extensive transportation infrastructure: 474 kilometers of railway, 1,502 kilometers of highway, 213 bridges, 37 railway stations, 11 tunnels, more than 217,000 rails, more than 1,549,000 sleepers, more than 109,000 telephone poles, and more than 424,000 kilograms of telephone wire. Five coal mines and 11 warehouses were destroyed. The narrative further adds that when including casualties of Japanese and puppet forces across related engagements—such as Fuwang and the anti–mopping operations in northwest Shanxi—the total number of casualties reached more than 50,880. Japanese statistics were also cited for damage assessment, noting destruction of track and bridges across key railways (Zhengtai, Tongpu, Pinghan), telegraph pole damage, power line cuts, and effects on coal production—such as the Jingxing New Mine being unable to produce coal for at least six months. These details underline a broader background stake: infrastructure damage was meant to weaken the occupier's ability to keep its occupation apparatus working, even after the direct battles ended. The price of that multi-month struggle was high for the Eighth Route Army as well. Over the three and a half months leading up to the Hundred Regiments Offensive, the Eighth Route Army suffered 17,000 casualties, and more than 20,000 were poisoned. During the Hundred Regiments Offensive itself, post-war statistics state that the 129th Division suffered 7,362 casualties and 450 missing persons, and the entire division suffered 7,812 casualties. When you connect these lines—offensive sabotage, counter-offensives, Japanese mopping-ups, and anti-mopping resistance—you see why this second wave of fighting mattered. It wasn't only about whether the Japanese could respond to the offensive. It was about whether both sides could sustain their operational logic: the Japanese trying to stabilize occupation through "mopping," and the Communists trying to preserve base systems through dispersal, harassment, and counter-moves that convert the occupier's clearing effort into something too costly to maintain. The background of the Hundred Regiments offensive, who authorized it, who planned it, and why, remains unclear. The Japanese response was so severe that, in retrospect, it appeared to some as if the offensive had been a mistake. Some leaders, especially Mao, may have wanted to disavow it. Indirect hints in Mao's writings in subsequent months and years suggest he may have viewed it critically or harbored misgivings from the start. It was not the kind of strategy Mao preferred. More than twenty years later, during the Cultural Revolution, Red Guards charged that Mao had not even known of the plan in advance because of Peng Dehuai's alleged duplicity, at the time, Peng was being denounced. While this seems unlikely, it may contain some substance. In his own defense against these charges, Peng stated that after the 8RA headquarters—located not in Yan'an but in Jin-Cha-Ji—planned the operation, it sent mobilization orders downward to each regional command and also notified the Central Military Affairs Commission headed by Mao. In the original plan, the action would begin in early September. But, Peng wrote, to prevent enemy discovery and to ensure simultaneous surprise assaults—thereby inflicting an even greater blow to the enemy and the puppets—they began about ten days earlier than scheduled, during the last week of August. "So we did not wait for approval from the Military Affairs Commission (this was wrong), but went right into combat earlier than planned." There is also the issue of the "spontaneous" participation of more than eighty regiments without authorization from the Eighth Route Army headquarters, and not from Yan'an as well. If Peng Dehuai's account is accepted (written in 1970, shortly before his death), then Mao and Party Central had no role in conceiving or planning the Hundred Regiments campaign. In that case, the "grand strategy" motivations for undertaking it largely vanish—except perhaps insofar as they were considered by Peng and his colleagues. One alleged motive was to counter any tendency toward capitulation by Chiang Kai-shek and the Chongqing regime: if the war heated up and the CCP threw itself into fighting, any accommodation between Chiang and Japan would look like cowardly surrender. A related consideration was the Communist leadership's sensitivity to the charge that they were simply exploiting the war to expand their influence—avoiding Japanese combat while letting KMT armies bear the real burden of fighting. The Nationalists gave major publicity to the accusation that CCP policy devoted 70 percent of effort to expansion, 20 percent to coping with the KMT, and only 10 percent to opposing Japan. A third suggested motive was to divert attention from the New Fourth Army's offensives against Nationalist forces in Central China, which were peaking around the same time. Peng Dehuai acknowledged the campaign was "too protracted," yet he defended its importance in maintaining the CCP's anti-Japanese image in the wake of anti-friction conflicts, in demonstrating the failure of the cage-and-silkworm policy, in returning at least twenty-six county seats to base control, and in keeping "wavering" elements in line. Even if these reasons mattered less than regional and tactical calculations in launching the campaign, they could always be used for propaganda afterward. Whatever misgivings Mao and Party Central may have had, the Party kept them to itself. Mao radioed congratulations to Peng after his victory, and in public statements the Hundred Regiments were turned into legend. Even if the Hundred Regiments campaign aimed to defeat Japanese pacification efforts, it did not succeed in a decisive way. Shocked and stung by the 8RA's action, the North China Area Army intensified its efforts to bring North China under tighter control. Under General Tada and then his successor, General Okamura Yasuji (July 1941–November 1944), the Japanese inflicted brutal, sustained violence against all North China bases. Between 1941 and 1944, about 150,000 Japanese troops were assigned full-time to pacification duty, supported by roughly 100,000 Chinese auxiliaries of widely varying description and effectiveness. The remainder of the NCAA (about 150,000–200,000 men) was assigned to other tasks such as garrisoning major cities and containing Nationalist forces. Communist regulars were estimated at around 250,000 within base areas and 40,000 in SKN. The Japanese and their Chinese auxiliaries invested even more heavily than before in constructing moats, ditches, palisades, and blockhouses. Japanese sources claimed that by 1942 their forces had built 11,860 kilometers of blockade line and 7,700 fortified posts, mostly in the Hebei plains and the foothills of the Taihang mountains. A massive trench ran for 500 kilometers along the western side of the Pinghan railway line, with a depopulated and constantly patrolled zone on either side. The 250 Japanese outposts established in southern Hebei by December 1940 were more than quadrupled by mid-1942. These became the key means of controlling plains areas; by the end of 1941, all Communist bases in such terrain had been reduced to guerrilla status. Many main force units—such as those under Liu Cheng'ao and Yang Xiufeng—were compelled to move westward into mountains to survive. What distinguished the new Tada–Okamura approach from earlier tactics was the much larger and more protracted search-and-destroy thrust into the core mountain-base areas. They also replaced selective repression with indiscriminate, generalized violence. These infamous "Three-All" mop-up campaigns meant: kill all, burn all, loot all. Unable to distinguish ordinary peasants from Communists, the Japanese waged war on everyone. After attempting to seal off major consolidated regions in the base areas, they sent in very large detachments to search for Communist forces, civilian cadres, and activists. They also tried to destroy base facilities and war material stockpiles; to disrupt agriculture by burning crops or interfering with planting and harvesting; and to seize grain stores. Entire villages were razed, and everything alive found there was killed. Unlike earlier mop-ups that swept through an area and then departed, these campaigns left troops in the targeted zones for extended periods, "combing" the area back and forth and building at least temporary strongpoints in more accessible parts of mountain bases. These mop-up operations took a heavy and painful toll on rural populations. No doubt the harsh tactics and atrocities frequently committed during these actions did cause many peasants, rich and poor alike, to harbor deep hatred of the Japanese and to commit more fully to the Communist side. But intra-party sources also portray cases in which repression worked even more effectively than earlier attempts to drive a wedge between party and peasantry. As one internal assessment put it: If we only stress concealment… we are bound to be divorced from the masses. The morale of the masses cannot be sustained for long either. On the other hand, if we only seek fleeting gratification in careless fighting, we may also invite still more cruel enemy suppression. That will also alienate the masses. Communist spokesmen acknowledged that, in North China base areas, the population under Party control fell from 44 million to 25 million, while the Eighth Route Army declined from 400,000 to 300,000. Local records present an even grimmer picture. By 1942, 90 percent of the plains bases had been reduced to guerrilla zones or outright enemy control. In the mountainous Taiyue district within the Jin-Cha-Lu-Yi base, one cadre admitted that "not a single county was kept intact and the government offices of all its twelve counties were exiled in Jin-yuan." All twenty-six county seats occupied following the Hundred Regiments fighting were lost. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. Japan tried to regain control through retaliatory "mopping-up" operations starting in October 1940. In response, the Eighth Route Army and its commanders issued counter-measures: coordinate party, government, military, and civilians; keep mobility while dispersing forces when possible; and focus on annihilating incoming enemy units decisively. Counter-sweeps and anti-pacification actions continued through December, involving repeated ambushes and sabotage of roads, highways, and fortification efforts. 

How to Plan an Independent Trip to China: Trains, Apps, Payments & Real TipsWhen you think of China, you probably think of Beijing, Shanghai, or the Great Wall. But planning an independent trip across such a vast and culturally different country can feel overwhelming.In this episode of the Global Travel Planning Podcast, Tracy Collins is joined by traveller Lucy, who shares insights from her recent independent adventure across China with her long-time travel partner Joe.Together, Tracy and Lucy unpack what it is really like on the ground, from high-speed rail journeys and cashless payments to language barriers, food discoveries, and cultural surprises. Lucy also reflects on how travelling as a pair shaped their experience, from planning logistics to navigating busy stations and unfamiliar technology.Moving beyond the “big three” cities, Lucy and Joe explored destinations such as Pingyao and Yangzhou, offering honest insight into what first-time visitors truly need to know before they go.If China feels exciting but intimidating, this episode will give you practical tools and the confidence to plan your own independent adventure.In this episode you'll learn:How to realistically plan long-distance travel across ChinaWhat booking high-speed trains is really like (and why Trip.com helps)How China's passport-linked, paperless ticketing worksWhy nearly everything is cashless - and how to set up Alipay or WeChat before arrivalEssential apps including Amap, Didi, translation tools, and VPN-enabled eSIMsHow to navigate menus without EnglishWhy booking flexible hotels mattersWhat to expect from public toilets and cultural etiquetteHow to structure an itinerary beyond Beijing and ShanghaiGuest - Lucy EnglandShow notes - Episode 93

In the first episode of what turned into a mini Zhang Yimou film festival, we discuss the beautiful period drama Raise The Red Lantern (大红灯笼高高挂). We get into its themes of oppressive patriarchy, gorgeous cinematography, common enemies, impactful silences, unintentionally perpetuating your own subjugation, and y'know, pretty lanterns and stuff.   I Love This You Should Too is hosted by Samantha and Indy Randhawa   Raise the Red Lantern is a 1991 period drama film directed by Zhang Yimou and starring Gong Li. It is an adaptation by Ni Zhen of the 1990 novella Raise the Red Lantern (originally Wives and Concubines) by Su Tong. A Chinese-Hong Kong co-production, the film was later adapted into a ballet of the same title by the National Ballet of China, also directed by Zhang. Set during the Warlord Era in the 1920s, the film tells the story of a young woman who becomes the fourth wife of a wealthy man. It was the fourth of nine collaborations between Zhang and Gong. The film was shot in the Qiao Family Compound near the ancient city of Pingyao, in Shanxi Province.

Today, we'll talk about Pingyao Ancient City in Shanxi Province – a 2,800-year-old city that continues to thrive today maintaining a vibrant culture that weaves together ancient architecture, photography, and a unique story about the city's pioneering role in China's banking history.

China is building a more positive tourism image globally, with more foreign visitors sharing their good travel experiences online and not unfairly stereotyping the country.中国正在全球范围内建立更加积极的旅游形象，越来越多的外国游客在网上分享他们美好的旅行经历，而非不公正的刻板印象。Two Mad Explorers from Ireland, a video blog channel on YouTube with more than 160,000 subscribers, has recorded the experiences of two travelers from the European country who started their trip to China two weeks ago from Chengdu, the capital of Southwest China's Sichuan province. They describe Chengdu as "clean, beautiful, very modern and an affordable place to visit".来自爱尔兰的两位疯狂探险者是油管上一个拥有超过16万订阅者的视频博客频道，他们记录了两位来自欧洲国家的旅行者在中国之行的经历。这两位旅行者于两周前从中国西南部四川省的首府成都开始他们的旅程。他们描述成都为“干净、美丽、非常现代化，而且是一个价格实惠的地方”。Two visitors from Italy, Sydia and Mica, told Douyin blogger Broke Laowai, who has over 600 followers, that they have traveled to Beijing, Pingyao in Shanxi province and Xi'an in Shaanxi province.来自意大利的西迪亚和米卡在抖音上拥有600多粉丝的博主“破产老外”的直播中表示，他们已经前往北京、山西平遥和陕西西安等地旅游。Sydia said she found the people in China to be very kind and thoughtful. They try to help foreigners even if the latter don't speak Chinese and they themselves don't speak fluent English, she said.西迪亚表示，她发现中国人非常善良体贴。即使外国人不会说中文，中国人也会尽力帮助他们，即使他们自己的英语说得并不流利。The two visitors from Italy also praised mobile phone applications such as Alipay and WeChat, calling these "very cool" apps for ordering coffee, hailing rides and making payments.来自意大利的两位游客还称赞了支付宝和微信等移动应用，称这些应用是“非常酷”的应用，可以用来点咖啡、叫车和付款。China's inbound tourism recorded a good performance after the nation announced its visa-waiver policies for residents of some European and Asian countries and regions in late 2023.2023年底，中国宣布对部分欧洲和亚洲国家和地区的居民实行免签政策后，中国入境旅游表现良好。Starting in December, China offered visa-free entry to ordinary passport holders of six countries — France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia — allowing them to stay on the Chinese mainland for up to 15 days for tourism, business and family visit purposes, and also allowing them to transit without a visa.从12月开始，中国向法国、德国、意大利、荷兰、西班牙和马来西亚等六个国家的普通护照持有者提供免签入境，允许他们在中国大陆停留最多15天，用于旅游、商务和探亲，也可以无需签证过境。The policy was extended to another six countries, including Switzerland and Ireland, in March, with its expiration date extended to Dec 31. 该政策在3月份又扩展至包括瑞士和爱尔兰在内的六个国家，有效期延长至12月31日。The National Immigration Administration issued 466,000 visas to international travelers in the first quarter of 2024, up nearly 120 percent year-on-year, data from the administration showed. Nearly 2 million visits were made to the mainland by visa-exempt foreign nationals in the first quarter, up 266 percent year-on-year.国家移民管理局数据显示，2024年第一季度共向国际旅客发放了46.6万份签证，同比增长近120%。第一季度免签外国国民来大陆的次数接近200万次，同比增长266%。The boom in inbound tourism continued during the May Day holiday. Around 1.76 million inbound trips were made to the mainland over the five-day break, which started on May 1, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism said.文化和旅游部表示，五一假期期间，入境旅游继续保持繁荣态势。从5月1日开始的五天假期内，约有176万外国游客来大陆旅游。Travel portal Trip.com Group said that inbound travel bookings grew 130 percent year-on-year on the platform, while airport pickup services surged 342 percent year-on-year during the holiday.在线旅游平台同程旅行集团表示，该平台上的入境旅游预订量同比增长130%。同时，五一假期期间机场接送服务同比增长342%。Zhang Jinshan, a researcher on tourism planning and development at Beijing Union University, said that China's visa "openness and accessibility" was key to its inbound tourism growth. 北京联合大学旅游规划与发展研究所研究员张金珊表示，中国签证的“开放性和便利性”是入境旅游增长的关键。"China has made efforts to optimize its visa issuing procedures and made some groundbreaking changes in its visa policies starting in 2023. The inbound tourism market has embraced rapid recovery since earlier this year, with the growth of international travelers from some countries exceeding our expectations," he said.“中国一直在努力优化签证发放程序，从2023年开始在签证政策方面做出了一些突破性的改变。自今年年初以来，入境旅游市场已经实现了快速复苏，一些国家的国际游客数量增长速度超出了我们的预期。”Zhao Jing, director of customized tours at travel portal Tuniu, said that international travelers like planning their trips in advance, and China's optimized entry policies will give them more time to prepare for their trips as well as boost their confidence in getting to know the country better.途牛定制游总监赵京表示，国际游客通常喜欢提前规划行程，中国优化的入境政策将给他们更多时间准备行程，并增强他们更好地了解中国的信心。The relaxed entry policies have also cheered up domestic tourism companies, prompting them to channel more resources into launching new products and improving services, Zhao said.赵京表示，宽松的入境政策也提振了国内旅游企业，促使他们将更多资源投入到推出新产品和提升服务中。"The inbound tourism (market) has great potential yet to be tapped. I think the optimized policies will also attract more people to work in the sector," she added.“入境旅游市场还有巨大的潜力有待挖掘。我认为优化的政策也将吸引更多人投身这一行业。”Zhang, the tourism researcher, suggested that China expand its visa-free policy to some neighboring countries, and also to countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, in order to gain a larger share in inbound tourism.旅游研究员张先生建议，中国可以扩大免签政策，向一些邻国以及“一带一路”参与国家和地区开放，以在入境旅游市场中占据更大的份额。In addition to improving payment, network and accommodations services for international travelers, China can channel more resources to deepen reform, enhance openness and improve the nation's image to secure the stable and sustainable development of inbound tourism, he added.他补充说，除了改善国际游客的支付、网络和住宿服务外，中国还可以将更多资源用于深化改革、扩大开放和提升国家形象，以确保入境旅游的稳定和可持续发展。inbound tourism入境旅游sustainable development可持续发展

​Serbian national Faris Rebronja is an international trader of everyday items and is currently based in the County of Pingyao, Shanxi Province in north China. Having lived in China for five years, the young businessman has gained experience not only in the business world but more importantly has formed his own understanding of the Asian nation. In this episode of Makin' It in China, Rebronja says he is optimistic about China's future development and wants to grasp more opportunities the world's second-largest economy will continue to offer him.

« Je ne veux pas montrer mais donner l'envie de voir ». On pourrait ajouter à cette citation de notre cinéaste du jour qu'elle aura même, avec son œuvre, donner envie de vivre. Ne pas seulement montrer, mais donner envie de voir, c'est vraiment ce qui a motivé la photographe, scénariste, réalisatrice, productrice, artiste visuelle Agnès Varda. (Rediffusion) Une grande exposition Viva Varda vient d'ouvrir ses portes à la Cinémathèque française à Paris et nous recevons sa commissaire Florence Tissot.Ainsi que le documentariste Pierre-Henri Gibert dont le portrait libre « Viva Varda » sera diffusé sur Arte, le 6 novembre 2023 (et disponible sur la plateforme arte.tv).En 70 ans de carrière, Agnès Varda aura signé une quarantaine de films, courts et longs métrages, fictions et documentaires, œuvres d'art contemporain, hybridant les formes, échappant aux cases pour bâtir une œuvre polymorphe.⇒ La bande annonce. À l'affiche de notre cinéma également ce samedi :- un reportage de notre envoyé spécial permanent en Chine Stéphane Lagarde sur le festival de Pingyao, et le journal du cinéma. Pauses musicales : Sans toi, la chanson du film Cleo de 5 à 7, et Angry, un titre du nouvel album des Rolling Stones.

①China issues stamps featuring UNESCO site Pingyao ancient city ②Women's sport revenues tipped to break $1 billion barrier ③China unveils new archaeological findings of Liangzhu ruins ④China's sky survey telescope finds two near-Earth asteroids ⑤Chinese drone maker DJI launches new agricultural drones ⑥Thailand, HK launch cross-border QR payment for seamless transactions ⑦Larger font sizes urged for drug information labels ⑧Scientists identify new ancestor of modern maize: study

« Je ne veux pas montrer mais donner l'envie de voir ». On pourrait ajouter à cette citation de notre cinéaste du jour qu'elle aura même, avec son œuvre, donner envie de vivre. Ne pas seulement montrer, mais donner envie de voir, c'est vraiment ce qui a motivé la photographe, scénariste, réalisatrice, productrice, artiste visuelle Agnès Varda. Une grande exposition Viva Varda vient d'ouvrir ses portes à la Cinémathèque française à Paris et nous recevons sa commissaire Florence Tissot.Ainsi que le documentariste Pierre-Henri Gibert dont le portrait libre « Viva Varda » sera diffusé sur Arte, le 6 novembre 2023 (et disponible sur la plateforme arte.tv).En 70 ans de carrière, Agnès Varda aura signé une quarantaine de films, courts et longs métrages, fictions et documentaires, œuvres d'art contemporain, hybridant les formes, échappant aux cases pour bâtir une œuvre polymorphe.⇒ La bande annonce. À l'affiche de notre cinéma également ce samedi :- un reportage de notre envoyé spécial permanent en Chine Stéphane Lagarde sur le festival de Pingyao, et le journal du cinéma. Pauses musicales : Sans toi, la chanson du film Cleo de 5 à 7, et Angry, un titre du nouvel album des Rolling Stones.

Chine : le taux préférentiel de prêt reste inchangé;Plus de 2.800 entreprises participent au Salon international de l'industrie de Chine à Shanghai;La Chine annonce la reprise complète du trafic international de navires de croisière;Mise en place des décorations florales à Beijing à l'approche de la fête nationale;Les forêts anciennes de théiers à Pu'er en Chine classées au patrimoine mondial;Retour d'un navire-hôpital chinois après une mission humanitaire;Le festival de photographie d'une ancienne ville chinoise (Pingyao) attire 13.961 œuvres ;Ouverture du 1er Forum culturel international du Panda d'or à Chengdu

In the Qing dynasty, camels were one of the main means of transport. People would travel for days to cross deserts, wilderness and plains to reach the city of Pingyao, where they would trade their wares to increase their wealth. So an agency of bankers was established to help grow the economy and slowly build up a financial network. Soon, wealth began to accumulate in the city of Pingyao: First Banks of China by Wu Shuang from Jing Studio. Read the full review here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2023/01/21/pingyao-first-banks-of-china-saturday-review/ Useful Links Pingyao: First Banks of China: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jingstudio/pingyao-first-chinese-banks/description Rulebook: https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/211862/pre-kickstarter-english-rules Jing Studio: https://www.facebook.com/jingstudio/ BGG listing: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/303263/pingyao-first-chinese-banks Brass: Birmingham review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2020/10/03/brass-birmingham-saturday-review/ Intro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/) The following music was used for this media project: Music: Wanderer by Alexander Nakarada Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/4772-wanderer License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license If you want to support this podcast financially, please check out the links below: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tabletopgamesblog Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/TabletopGamesBlog Website: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/tabletopgamesblog/message

Shanxi (山西) province is a mountainous plateau region located in northern China. It is know for its yummy noodles and the ancient city of Pingyao (平遥), which has become a world heritage site. But don't be afraid to get dirty! Shanxi is the leading coal producer in China and is also frequented by yearly sand storms. In this lesson, we get a sneak peek of what Shanxi has to offer. Episode link: https://www.chinesepod.com/2036

For 10 years in a row since he became general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee in 2012, Xi Jinping has made it a tradition to visit people at the grassroots level nationwide, especially disadvantaged groups, ahead of Chinese Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival.With the most important Chinese festival starting on Tuesday, Xi, who is also China's president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, started his annual festive tour to meet the people on Wednesday. This time, he chose North China's Shanxi province as his destination.The inspection tour, which concluded on Thursday, took him to visit villagers, workers engaged in cultural relics protection and energy supply, and officials working at the grassroots level in southern and central parts of the province.On Wednesday afternoon, Xi went to two villages, where he visited villagers' homes and inspected post-disaster reconstruction in areas affected by last year's floods, as well as local work in restoring farming, ensuring the public's access to heating in winter, consolidating and expanding anti-poverty achievements, and advancing rural vitalization.▲ President Xi Jinping, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, talks on Wednesday with villagers in Huozhou, Shanxi province, during his inspection of the province ahead of Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on Tuesday. Xie Huanchi/XinhuaIn Fengnanyuan, a village in the city of Huozhou, which was hit hard by severe flooding last year, Xi told the villagers he came to see how much the disaster had affected their lives, and he was gratified that the villagers have weathered the storm and made achievements in the reconstruction of their homes through local governments' help and their own efforts. He wished them a happy Spring Festival.Speaking to residents of Duancun village of Fenxi county, who came to welcome him, Xi said that in governing the country, the CPC has no other option but to do something good for the people, wholeheartedly serve the people, and make every effort to ensure the people can pursue a happy life.▲ Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visits a villager's home in Fengnanyuan Village, Shizhuang Township of Huozhou City, north China's Shanxi Province, Jan. 26, 2022. Xi on Wednesday began his visit to Shanxi Province ahead of the Spring Festival, or the Chinese New Year. Xinhua/Li XuerenAs the new journey has begun toward the second centenary goal of comprehensively building China into a modern socialist country, Xi said agricultural and rural areas' modernization should not be left behind. Farmers' lives will be better and better, he added.Putting people first has been at the center of Xi's governance philosophy. Every time he has conducted inspection tours nationwide in recent years, he has chatted with locals to learn details about their lives, including their incomes, housing situation, healthcare, children's education and old-age services, and has seen how the Party's and government's policies have been carried out to benefit the people.In his New Year address to ring in 2022, Xi said, "The concerns of the people are what I always care about, and the aspirations of the people are what I always strive for."Our country, big as it is, also has its list of priorities. The myriad of things we attend to all boil down to matters concerning every household. ... Every time I visit people in their homes, I would ask if they have any more difficulties, and I would remember everything my folks have to share with me."Cai Wenming, 62, a farmer from Duancun village, was excited to see Xi, the country's top leader, visiting his home on Wednesday afternoon. "General Secretary Xi was very affectionate. He asked me in great detail about how we had prepared the food and other goods for Spring Festival. He asked me how much income I can earn from raising sheep," Cai said.Cai said that although the general secretary is busy taking care of 1.4 billion people in the country, he nonetheless spends time visiting a mountainous village to see in person what local farmers' lives are like, and whether the villagers who were lifted out of poverty one year ago live a better life now. Cai added that he was very thankful for Xi.Li Jiali, the village's Party secretary, said Xi's visit inspired her a lot. "As a grassroots-level official, I will be more down-to-earth to work for my villagers, always putting the people's interests in my heart," she said.In addition to people's lives, Xi also paid much attention to the province's high-quality development.During his visit on Thursday to Pingyao county, which is famed for its importance in Chinese economic history and for its well-preserved urban planning and architecture in Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911), Xi emphasized the importance of preserving cultural relics and upholding cultural confidence.Inspecting a coal-fired power plant in the city of Jinzhong, Xi underlined the need to promote low-carbon development of the coal sector while ensuring the energy supply to contribute to the country's carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals.He also urged Shanxi to fully follow the decisions and policies made by the CPC Central Committee, comprehensively and faithfully implement the new development philosophy and make coordinated efforts in COVID-19 pandemic response and socioeconomic development.记者：曹德胜

Carlo Hintermann è regista, produttore, musicista e scrittore. Dopo aver studiato percussioni classiche, filosofia e storia del cinema in Italia si trasferisce negli Stati Uniti dove studia regia cinematografica.Qui realizza una serie di cortometraggi e lavora come regista e coordinatore di seconda unità. Inizia la sua carriera di documentarista realizzando insieme a Luciano Barcaroli, Gerardo Panichi e Daniele Villa il film "Rosy-fingered Dawn: A Film on Terrence Malick" (Mostra Internazionale del Cinema di Venezia, 2002). Segue "Chatzer: Inside Jewish Venice" (Torino Film Festival, 2004) e "The Dark Side of the Sun" (Festa del Cinema di Roma, Extra – Menzione speciale premio Enel Cuore, 2011). Dirige anche il corto di animazione "H2O" (Annecy Animated Film Festival, 2007).Produce e dirige l'unità italiana del film di Terrence Malick "The Tree of Life" (Palma d'oro al Festival di Cannes, 2011) rafforzando ulteriormente la sua collaborazione con Malick. Nel 2013, dirige lo spot per la Giornata Mondiale Delle Malattie in collaborazione con Annie Lennox e gli Eurythmics. Successivamente dirige anche lo spot per la campagna del 2015.Il suo film "The Book of Vision", per cui Terrence Malick è produttore esecutivo, apre La Settimana della Critica all'interno della Mostra Internazionale del Cinema di Venezia 2020. Il film viene selezionato in molti altri festival tra cui Sitges, Pingyao, Festival du Nouveau Cinéma – Montreal, e Warsaw Film Festival dove è il film d'apertura.Come produttore insieme al suo socio Gerardo Panichi ha co-prodotto numerosi film, documentari e cortometraggi tra cui "Ana Arabia, Tsili e Rabin: The Last Day di Amos Gitai" (Mostra Internazionale del Cinema di Venezia, 2013, 2014, 2015), "Monte" di Amir Naderi (Mostra Internazionale del Cinema di Venezia – Premio Glory to the Filmmaker, 2016), "Dal Ritorno" di Giovanni Cioni, "Rhinoceros" di Kevin Jerome Everson.Hintermann è anche un musicista, compositore e scrittore di cinema. Con Luciano Barcaroli e Daniele Villa ha scritto diversi volumi: "Addio terraferma: Ioseliani secondo Ioseliani" (Ubulibri, 1999); "Una storia vera – The Straight Story" (Ubulibri, 2000); "Il cinema nero di Takeshi Kitano: Sonatine – Hana-Bi – Brother" (Ubulibri, 2001); Scorsese secondo Scorsese" (Ubulibri,2003) e "Terrence Malick: Rehearsing the Unexpected" (Faber & Faber, 2015).

“Hexie Hao”photographies de Jean-Luc FeixaFanzine en autoéditionhttps://www.jeanlucfeixa.com/hexiehaoExtrait du communiqué de presseLittéralement harmonie, Hexie Hao est le récit imagé d'un voyage en terre chinoise traversée au rythme fou des trains éponymes. Par la fenêtre, rêvassant pendant des heures, j'ai vu défiler les kilomètres de campagne, mouchetée par des milliers de bloc habités.Abandonnant ma monture d'acier au rythme des arrêts, j'ai arpenté de long en large les coulisses de ce grand spectacle, me perdant dans la fureur et les contrastes extrêmes des mégalopoles chinoises, et m'enivrant de la beauté brute des paysages.De Pékin à Shanghai, en passant par Pingyao et les rizières en terrasse de Longji, les sels d'argent conserveront à jamais les beaux instants de ce voyage initiatique.[…]Jean-Luc FeixaFanzine en édition limitée à 50 exemplaires, signés et numérotés. Imprimé sur papier noir, 14,8 x 21 cm, 25 images, 56 pages, en français, design Mathieu Van Assche. Pour plus d'informations jlfeixa@gmail.com Voir Acast.com/privacy pour les informations sur la vie privée et l'opt-out.

David Charles Collins (b. 1988, Perth, Australia) is an artist examining perceptions of identity and masculinity through the mediums of photography, performance and video. Based in Sydney since 2016, David graduated with an MFA from Sydney College of the Arts in 2017 under the supervision of Australian contemporary artist Julie Rrap.David’s work has been displayed in several exhibitions including solo shows at Perth Centre for Photography and STILLS Gallery as well as group exhibitions such as Pingyao photography festival in China. Most recently his work has been included in BOYS! BOYS! BOYS! a project by The Little Black Gallery, curated by co-founder Ghislain Pascal, to promote queer and gay photography.Publications which have reviewed David's work include: Australian Art Collector Magazine, Art Guide Australia, Scoop magazine and The Age. His work is held in collections including the Art Gallery Of Western Australia and the University of Western Australia’s Lawrence Wilson Gallery.Interview with David Charles Collins recorded by Michael Dooney on 12. May 2020 between Berlin & Sydney with Squadcast. Photo by Adrian Pinto.NOTESFull Episode Transcript (online soon)David Charles Collins official homepageVideo Art by David Charles CollinsBoys! Boys! Boys!Home PageInstagramLittle Black Gallery, LondonGhislain PascalFotografiska New York----more----DAVID CHARLES COLLINSHomepageBookshopInstagramVideo ArtBOYS BOYS BOYS!Home PageInstagramLittle Black Gallery, LondonGhislain PascalSEBASTIAN DE LA LUZ (audio engineering)SoundcloudMICHAEL DOONEYHome PageInstagramFacebookTwitterYouTubeJARVIS DOONEY GALLERYHome PageInstagramFacebookTwitter

In this episode, we feature TMI Fine Arts Instructor Hannah Cooper McCauley, who joined the TMI community 2016 and brings her talents of narrative photography to our school. Her own photography has been exhibited in group and solo shows at various venues internationally, including the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, the Vermont Center for Photography, Photo Beijing 2014, the 2014 Pingyao, China International Photography Festival, and has been published in Photo District News as well as Aint-Bad Magazine. She earned her Bachelors of Fine Arts degree at Jacksonville State University and her Masters of Fine Arts degree from Louisiana Tech University. Hannah shares her diagnosis of a degenerative eye condition called Optic Nerve Head Drusen and how it has influenced and shaped much of her art. We also talk about her teaching philosophy, some of her students' favorite projects, and why analog photography continues to be important for students even as technology evolves. Learn more about Hannah and view her art: http://www.hannahcoopermccauley.com/    View Hannah's chapel talk at TMI, "An Artist's Story" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3vpWq_wOcw 

Hoy vamos a visitar Pingayao, una ciudad ciudad de las dinastias ming y qing fundada en el siglo XIV y que fue un lugar muy importante para la economía de China. Aquí en Pingyao se abrio el primer banco chino y en esta ciudad se llego a almacenar más del 50% de las reservas de plata de todo el imperio. En nuestra visita nosotros vamos a ver los antiguos bancos y casas de la moneda. Vamos a dar una vuelta por su muralla de 6 km de larga y 12 metros de alta, vamos a ver sus torretas y luego vamos a alquilar una bicicleta para ir a visitar los templos de zhenguo y shuanglin, situados fuera de los muros de la ciudad antigua de Pingyao. Además de ese recorrido virtual por Pingyao y al rededores también vamos a dar una vuelta por un curioso y exótico mercado callejeros de ranas, serpientes, tortugas… vivas por supuesto. Os voy a explicar cómo es la organización normal de un mercado de este tipo, y también hablaremos sobre qué tipo de animales te puedes encontrar en ellos. ¿Qué te parece el recorrido de hoy? Curioso ¿verdad? Espero que te guste. http://asiaeasyviajes.com/pingyao/ http://asiaeasyviajes.com/foto-reportaje-pingyao/ http://asiaeasyviajes.com/mercados-de-tortugas-serpientes-ranas-peces-y-perros-vivos/

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Pingyao Year Zero. The post Marco Müller – Pingyao Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon International Film Festival #PYIFF appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

China's new international film festival. The post Jia Zhang-ke – Pingyao Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon International Film Festival #PYIFF appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

Pingyao Year Zero. The post Marco Müller – Pingyao Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon International Film Festival #PYIFF appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

China's new international film festival. The post Jia Zhang-ke – Pingyao Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon International Film Festival #PYIFF appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

Pingyao Year Zero. The post Marco Müller – Pingyao Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon International Film Festival #PYIFF appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

China's new international film festival. The post Jia Zhang-ke – Pingyao Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon International Film Festival #PYIFF appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

Pingyao Year Zero. The post Marco Müller – Pingyao Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon International Film Festival #PYIFF appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

Pingyao Year Zero. The post Marco Müller – Pingyao Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon International Film Festival #PYIFF appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

China's new international film festival. The post Jia Zhang-ke – Pingyao Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon International Film Festival #PYIFF appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

Pingyao Year Zero. The post Marco Müller – Pingyao Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon International Film Festival #PYIFF appeared first on Fred Education Channel » FRED Education Podcast. Marco Müller – Pingyao Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon International Film Festival #PYIFF was first posted on November 7, 2017 at 6:38 pm.©2015 "Fred Education Channel". Use of this feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this article in your feed reader, then the site is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact me at radio@fred.fm

China's new international film festival. The post Jia Zhang-ke – Pingyao Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon International Film Festival #PYIFF appeared first on Fred Education Channel » FRED Education Podcast. Jia Zhang-ke – Pingyao Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon International Film Festival #PYIFF was first posted on November 7, 2017 at 6:58 pm.©2015 "Fred Education Channel". Use of this feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this article in your feed reader, then the site is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact me at radio@fred.fm

Once upon a time, a wise old Jedi claimed that “fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, and hate leads to suffering.” He stopped after suffering, though, so we have to wonder: what does suffering lead to? Is there a chance that suffering can lead to new possibilities? From suffering, there are opportunities for growth, for change, and for evolution. Suffering can be the catalyst for so many qualities necessary in a travel, and, sometimes, all that you need to do to obtain those qualities is to “rough it” when traveling. Tom Butler makes his triumphant return to discuss the benefits of “roughing it,” as well as his time in China. Tom returns to Hayden to talk about his life since he last visited in season three, as well as how he has begun to settle down with his family, which includes his three-year-old daughter and will soon include another child, coming this summer. He talks about how the logistics of traveling have had to shift since he has started adding children to his family, since the travel bug has not been dissuaded regardless of how many kids he has. Tom also discusses how to manage your budget and finances when you travel. The highlight of Tom’s episode is in his story, based in China and given the alluring title of: “On the Right Track.” He talks about his journey with his family from Shiyan to Beijing, how they decided to stop over in Pingyao, but also decided to take the most overpacked train directly following Chinese New Year. What followed was a lesson in not overbooking trains, and in trusting those around you when something goes wrong. Tom also discusses with Hayden cultural divides, differences from location to location, and how even the slightest deviation from your usual routine can count as a travel experience. They also continue their thread of how “toughing it” can make an experience that much more powerful and interesting to go through and learn from, as well as how to follow your own flexibility when scheduling and spending on a trip. When it comes right down to it, though, you will never know if you don’t give it a shot; “do or do not - there is no try.” 0:57 - In the last episode of season four, Hayden re-introduces Tom Butler, one of our most popular guests from season three. Tom has been around the world with his wife and is starting to settle down with a family, with his second child on the way this summer, but the travel bug has never left him. 8:05 - Hayden and Tom discuss the price spectrum of traveling and how to manage your budget and your finances when you travel. Tom mentions how your own comfort and experiences can play into your financial decisions, as well as how flexible you can be in your scheduling and your spending. 15:27 - Hayden shares a... --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/backpackdigital/message