Xie Xinping: The Great Road Is Smooth as a Whetstone, the Journey Ahead Gleams Like a Rainbow — Written on the Occasion of the 105th Anniversary of the Founding of the Communist Party of China

The Great Road Is Smooth as a Whetstone, the Journey Ahead Gleams Like a Rainbow — Written on the Occasion of the 105th Anniversary of the Founding of the Communist Party of China

■ Xie Xinping

1921—2026.

The journey is long, the road traveled through wind and rain, and we have arrived once again at a new starting point of milestone significance.

The long road speaks not, but its milestones serve as letters. This is a glorious road that runs from Shikumen to Tiananmen, from Xingye Road to Fuxing Road.

The journey ahead gleams like a rainbow. Photo by Li Sanhong, PLA Daily reporter.

The road stretches toward the distance. In the early spring of this year, a magnificent blueprint was slowly unfurled——

On March 12, the Fourth Session of the 14th National People's Congress voted to adopt the resolution on the outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development. The Communist Party of China, committed to the enduring cause of the Chinese nation, is leading hundreds of millions of people onto a new journey of building Chinese-style modernization (中国式现代化).

The road lies beneath our feet. Also in this spring, a campaign to realign thinking (思想整队) was set in motion——

Immediately after the Spring Festival holiday, a study and education campaign on establishing and practicing a correct view of political achievement (正确政绩观) was launched across the entire Party. A century-old Party in the prime of its vigor has begun yet another course correction aimed at the very soul, writing a new chapter in leading the great social revolution through the great self-revolution (伟大自我革命).

The year 2026 marks the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, the inaugural year of the 15th Five-Year Plan, and the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Red Army's Long March. In the historical process of comprehensively advancing the building of a strong nation and national rejuvenation, these three important milestones carry profound meaning.

The great road advances, boundless and vast. The great road is smooth as a whetstone; those who walk it know no limits.

The Party flag leads the military flag forward; the military flag follows where the Party flag flies. The people's army, created and led by the Communist Party of China, has been tempered in the furnace of political consolidation training (政治整训) and presses forward toward achieving the centenary goal of army-building (建军一百年奋斗目标).

The journey of building a strong military. Photo by Wang Chuanshun, PLA Daily reporter.

(I)

Jinan — "Liberation Road" (解放路).

On September 24, 1948, after eight days and nights of fierce fighting, the East China Field Army captured Jinan. The axis of advance running from Yaojia Village in the east to Qinglong Bridge in the west was accordingly named "Liberation Road."

When the flag of victory was planted atop the city walls, the people of the city cheered with great enthusiasm: "The People's Liberation Army has come!"

At that time, our army had not yet been formally named the "People's Liberation Army." It was not until November 1 that the Central Military Commission (中央军委) issued the "Regulations on Unifying the Organization and Designations of All Military Units," requiring that all unit designations at the regiment level and above and at the military sub-district level and above be prefixed with the words "Chinese People's Liberation Army."

The true naming took place in the hearts of the people. Thereafter, the Communist Party of China led the people's army in campaigns across the length and breadth of the country, sweeping all before it. Cries of "The People's Liberation Army has come!" resounded within and beyond the Great Wall, and "Liberation Roads" crisscrossed the land of China, converging into a thoroughfare of people's liberation and national independence.

What seems most ordinary is often most extraordinary; what appears easily achieved is in fact hard-won.

The question of the road was once the most urgent and most weighty question of the century for modern China — a question of destiny, a question of the future. More than a hundred years ago, faced with the profound crisis of encirclement by the great powers and the carving up of the country, ideologies of every stripe and parties of every size took turns upon the stage, yet none succeeded in freeing China from the fate of being at others' mercy, buffeted by storms.

Where was the way out? Where did the road lie?

Setting Sail. Oil painting by He Hongzhou and Huang Faxiang (collection of the National Art Museum of China, archival image).

"In the deep darkness of night, a small boat on South Lake carried China's future." In July 1921, the Communist Party of China stepped onto the stage of history. From that moment, it took as its founding mission (初心使命) the pursuit of happiness for the Chinese people and the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Crossing ten thousand mountains and rivers, breaking through ten thousand hardships and dangers, enduring ten thousand trials and tribulations, and undergoing a hundred forgings and refinements, it finally broke through to a road of victory.

History has never favored any particular party. Whoever truly represents the fundamental interests of the broadest masses of the people will win the support of the broadest masses of the people. All along the way, the Communist Party of China has shared the same fate as the people, bound together in life and death, enabling a country that was once torn apart and utterly impoverished to rise up in the face of peril and be reborn from despair.

"For the people" — the Communist Party of China has resolutely walked a road of faith (信仰之路).

——This road is written in the inaugural statement that Comrade Mao Zedong wrote for Political Weekly (《政治周报》) in 1925: "Why revolution? To achieve the liberation of the Chinese nation, to realize the rule of the people, to bring the people economic happiness."

——This road is written in the folk songs widely sung by the masses in the Central Soviet Area (中央苏区): "The cadres of the Soviet Area have a fine work style — they bring their own rations to the office, wear straw sandals to make revolution by day, and carry lanterns to visit poor peasants by night; the cadres of the Soviet Area have a fine work style — they sincerely serve the masses, thinking of firewood, rice, oil, and salt, asking after their warmth and cold with deep feeling……"

——This road is written in the Constitution of the Communist Party of China adopted at the Party's Seventh National Congress: "Communist Party members of China must possess the spirit of serving the Chinese people wholeheartedly"; "every Party member must listen attentively to the voice of the masses and understand their urgent needs, and help them organize to struggle for the realization of those needs."

——This road is written in the nature of New China's political power: "We are a people's democratic dictatorship; the word 'people' must be added to governments at all levels, and the word 'people' must be added to all organs of political power" — the status of the people as masters of the country must be genuinely guaranteed.

Carrying forward the past and opening up the future. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wu Zhizun.

The road of faith has never been a path strewn with flowers; it has been overgrown with thorns, and at times has meant the knife, the saw, and the cauldron.

In times of confusion, one must not waver. In those years, when the Red Army was crossing the grasslands, the cook, upon rising, would not ask whether there was rice to cook that day, but would first ask: are we heading south or north?

In times of peril, one must dare to sacrifice. When the whole country was liberated in 1949, Communist Party of China membership exceeded four million — yet in the twenty-eight years from the founding of the Communist Party of China to the establishment of the People's Republic of China, more than 3.7 million Party members whose names can be verified died as martyrs!

To walk this road is to press forward with courage and dedication, to exhaust every ounce of strength to see it through, and to follow it even at the cost of one's head and blood.

"Communists are a special kind of person. They seek no private gain whatsoever, but only the welfare of the nation and the people."

"Since ancient times, no group in China has been willing to sacrifice as much, sacrifice as many people, and undertake such great endeavors as the Communist Party."

(II)

The Tianshan Mountains — "Prosperity Road" (致富路).

In April of this year, a short video went viral across the internet: on a bus returning from Korla to Ürümqi, tour guide Dilnur Tursunjiang was introducing Taiwanese tourists to the Tianshan Victory Tunnel they were passing through——

"Because the people needed a good road like this, the motherland could make the high mountains yield and the rivers bow their heads. It was not that piercing through the Tianshan was easy — it was that on the other side of the Tianshan there are people."

22.13 kilometers, average elevation above 3,000 meters, 16 fault zones, extreme cold, oxygen deficiency, rock bursts, water inrushes, collapses…… In many Western countries, any one of these factors alone might become grounds for "indefinite postponement," yet China completed the tunnel in less than five years.

What the people long for is what governance must pursue. In the Communist Party of China's decision-making, beyond calculating the "economic account," the "popular sentiment account" (民心账) is calculated above all. This account is one that profit-seeking capital is unwilling to calculate, that market forces chasing returns have no desire to calculate — only a governing party that upholds "putting the people first" (人民至上) will spare no effort to turn it into reality.

This road transformed an ancient natural barrier into a thoroughfare. Netizens commented: "It lets the special products of the mountains travel out of the deep mountains and toward distant places; it brings those living far from home closer to the journey back, making reunions warmer; it means that seeking medical care, pursuing education, looking for work, and starting a business are no longer blocked by the towering Tianshan."

This road extends across the land of China. Some pierce mountains and cross ridges to reach isolated villages; some span ravines to connect new hopes; some are paved inch by inch from muddy tracks into broad thoroughfares……

The Duku Highway in Xinjiang. (Archival image.)

"Prosperity Road" is not a casual label on a map, but a road that the people, under the leadership of the Party, have irrigated with sweat, measured with their footsteps, and bored through with their struggle.

The founding mission of a century-old Party is bound up with the fate of hundreds of millions of lives.

At the founding of New China, everything was in ruins and people's livelihoods were desperately hard. For the Chinese people of that time, "getting rich" was something so distant and so out of reach.

"Prosperity Road" began from the most barren land and extended into the most treacherous places.

"Make the high mountains bow their heads, make the rivers yield the way!" In the 1950s, more than 100,000 soldiers and civilians fought against heaven and earth, driving forward through sheer cliffs and precipices. Four years later, the Sichuan-Tibet Highway and the Qinghai-Tibet Highway opened simultaneously. A great character for "person" (人) was carved upon the roof of the world.

"Dare to blaze trails, dare to experiment, dare to be the first in the world!" In the winter of 1978, eighteen households in Xiaogang Village, Fengyang County, Anhui Province, pressed their red fingerprints onto a household contract responsibility system (大包干) agreement. The villagers of that time could not have imagined that 42 years later, all 98.99 million rural poor under China's current standards would have been lifted out of poverty, all 832 impoverished counties would have shed their poverty designations, and all 128,000 impoverished villages would have been removed from the poverty list.

Absolute poverty — a massive problem that had plagued the Chinese nation for thousands of years — was brought to a historic close in the new era.

Heartwarming — a public meeting to precisely identify poor households in Shibadong Village. Painting by Wang Fenying (ink painting in the collection of the National Art Museum of China, archival image).

"In building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, not a single person can be left behind; on the road to common prosperity (共同富裕), not a single person can fall behind." At the Museum of the Communist Party of China History, a solemn "Xiaokang Cauldron" (小康宝鼎) stands tall, inscribed with a 32-character text that records the world miracle created by the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, uniting and leading the people of the whole country: "With the people as the foundation, this is the direction of our Party. National rejuvenation — a hundred years of responsibility. Lifting out of poverty, building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. Benefiting China, bringing advantage to all directions."

On this road, the figures of the people's soldiers have never been absent.

On the high plateaus and in the great deserts, they built canals and diverted water, planted trees and cultivated forests, turning barren land into oases; in high gorges and deep valleys, they built bridges and opened roads, laid fiber-optic cables, connecting remote and impoverished areas to the world; on snow-covered frontier passes, they donated funds for education, helped resolve difficulties, and delivered the warmth of the Party to the hearts of the people. In many places, stone tablets stand bearing the inscription: "Built by [such-and-such] unit, transferred to local authority in [such-and-such] year."

A historic arrival also signifies a pioneering new advance. At this year's National Two Sessions (全国两会), Chairman Xi pointed out that one must "accurately grasp the new expectations of the people for a better life under the new situation and the new characteristics of work on people's livelihoods" and "explore effective paths for advancing common prosperity for all the people."

In Shanghai, the Xujiahui Sports Center has opened to the public in its new identity as a "sports park"; in Zhejiang, the "Ten Thousand Villages Project" (千万工程) has transformed countless villages into picturesque rural idylls; in Ningxia, the Fujian-Ningxia cooperation model has turned a "dry sandbank" into a "golden sandbank"……

One "Prosperity Road" after another is extending into ever broader depths. They connect the great transformation of mountains and rivers and bear witness to an unwavering founding mission——

The country is the people, and the people are the country.

(III)

Beijing — "Fuxing Road" (复兴路, "Rejuvenation Road").

The name carries meaning. This road is approximately 10 kilometers long, with one end connected to years of struggle and hardship, and the other to ardent longing.

In November 2012, Chairman Xi led the newly elected members of the central leadership to visit the exhibition "The Road to Rejuvenation" (《复兴之路》), pausing to gaze at historical photographs one by one, deeply moved: "Achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is the greatest dream of the Chinese nation in modern times."

This dream was once unimaginably distant. In 1919, Dr. Sun Yat-sen sketched China's first blueprint for modernization: building 1.6 million kilometers of roads, approximately 160,000 kilometers of railways, three world-class major seaports, the Three Gorges Dam……

Yet at that time, China was a place where "pain and disaster were as vast and as long as this snowy night." In 1929, Shanghai's Life Weekly (《生活周刊》) published an article titled "Ten Questions for China's Future": "When will our country produce enough rice and grain to be self-sufficient, free from fear of famine?" "When will our country be able to compete with the world's great powers?"……

A Spark. Oil painting by Chen Shudong (collection of the Museum of the First National Congress of the CPC, archival image).

"A single spark can start a prairie fire; a trickle can become a vast ocean." Since the Communist Party of China came into being, the face of the Chinese revolution has been completely transformed.

In October 2020, Chairman Xi stood before a planning map related to Sun Yat-sen's "Fundamentals of National Reconstruction" (《建国方略》) at the Shantou Port Culture Exhibition Hall, and said with deep feeling: "Only we Communists have realized it."

Fuxing Road, No. 1 Yangfangdian Road, the Jingxi Hotel. On December 22, 1978, the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China closed here. That day was the winter solstice, yet it has been called the "Beginning of Spring" (立春) of China's reform and opening up.

News of spring arrived, and the tide surged in the East. The ancient Chinese nation embarked on a magnificent journey of striding toward rejuvenation, and the young People's Republic set out on a forced march to catch up with the world's great powers.

Heaven and earth were overturned; seas turned into mulberry fields. Entering the new era, from the Party's 18th National Congress to the 19th and then the 20th, each five-year period — pursued with swift and unrelenting urgency — has profoundly changed the face of China. "Now, we are closer to the goal of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation than at any other time in history, and we have more confidence and capability to achieve this goal than at any other time in history."

The Communist Party of China, having created two world-renowned "great miracles" in a compression of time in which "decades covered the ground of centuries," has further explored Chinese-style modernization as "the only correct road for building a strong nation and achieving national rejuvenation" (强国建设、民族复兴的唯一正确道路).

Chairman Xi has profoundly pointed out: "Chinese-style modernization is the answer we have given to the great historical question of how to awaken the 'sleeping lion' and achieve national rejuvenation. It is a matter of choosing our own road and doing our own thing."

Striding forward on the correct road, our achievements are changing with each passing day. Chang'e-6 completed the first-ever sample return from the far side of the Moon; the "China Sky Eye" (中国天眼) gazes into the cosmos; the Mengxiang deep-sea drilling vessel probes the secrets of the deep ocean; the world's fastest high-speed rail train, the CR450 EMU, has burst onto the scene…… These scenes of innovation and breakthrough mark the keynote of "high-quality development."

The road is long and arduous, but those who walk it will arrive; those who walk without ceasing will find the future within reach.

By 2035, socialist modernization is to be basically achieved; by the middle of this century, China is to be built into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful. The grand narrative of Chinese-style modernization is precisely a "brief history of time" written by Communists with a correct view of political achievement.

Fuxing Road is not unique to Beijing. Across the vast expanse of the motherland, many other cities have streets and roads also named "Fuxing." The two characters for "rejuvenation" (复兴) have long been imprinted on the mental map of every Chinese person.

A strong nation, a rejuvenated people, a happy populace. On the road to rejuvenation, mornings and evenings differ, and the four seasons change — yet the most magnificent and most constant sight is the confident stride of the Chinese nation in seeking, pursuing, and realizing its dream.

Forward! Forward! Forward!

On September 3, 2025, a parade was held to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. A mighty and majestic torrent of steel extended into the distance along the broad Chang'an Avenue and Fuxing Road.

On September 3, 2025, a grand ceremony was held in Beijing to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. Pictured is the honor guard formation passing in review. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Ye.

Rejuvenation is the "temporal anchor point" (时代锚点) of building a strong military; building a strong military is the "Great Wall of steel" (钢铁长城) of rejuvenation. This grand ceremony is both a tribute by the entire military's officers and soldiers to a glorious history and a declaration of opening a brand-new future——

The people's army has the confidence and capability to safeguard national sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity; the confidence and capability to provide strategic support for realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation; and the confidence and capability to make greater contributions to world peace and development.

(IV)

Xibaipo — "Examination Road" (赶考路).

On March 23, 1949, the Party Central Committee set out from here for Beiping. Before departing, Mao Zedong said with profound meaning: "Today is the day we go to the capital to sit the examination."

From Xibaipo to Beijing, this road of approximately 360 kilometers was thereby endowed with the special significance of "sitting the examination" (赶考).

Going to the Capital to Sit the Examination. Oil painting by Chen Chengqi (collection of the National Museum of China, archival image).

"Sitting the examination" is a spiritual image of the Communist Party of China's successive generations of struggle, embodying the sobriety and resolve that have run through the century-old Party in an unbroken line.

Not long after entering Beijing, when Mao Zedong received democratic personages, he could not find a single piece of clothing without patches. Of this, he said with confidence: "Throughout history, the pampered sons of the wealthy have never performed well on examinations. Those who can endure poverty can accomplish great things; those who can chew on bitter roots can do anything — we will pass the examination with excellent results!"

The echoes of history still resound; the examination paper of the times is ever new.

Since the Party's 18th National Congress, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, addressing the major question of the times — what kind of long-term-governing Marxist party to build and how to build it — has put forward a series of new concepts, new thinking, and new strategies, forming Xi Jinping's thought on Party building (习近平党建思想).

The "Fourteen Adherences" (十四个坚持) profoundly grasp the intrinsic connections among governing and building the Party, invigorating and strengthening the Party, and building a strong nation and achieving rejuvenation. They are of great and far-reaching significance for persistently advancing comprehensive and strict governance of the Party (全面从严治党), maintaining the Party's advanced nature and purity, consolidating the Party's position as a long-term governing party, and more broadly rallying the mighty forces advancing Chinese-style modernization.

"To forge iron, one must be strong oneself" (打铁必须自身硬). Online, a topic once sparked heated discussion: "Over these 100 years, why have so many things that seemed 'inconceivable' been accomplished?" One answer received widespread acclaim: "Because they have always been revolutionaries!"

Those who can defeat powerful enemies must first defeat themselves. "To continue to do well on the 'examination' that the people administer to our Party, and on the 'examination' of the various tests our Party is currently facing and will face," one must always have the courage to engage in self-revolution (自我革命), to "wield the knife against oneself."

This is a struggle that cannot be lost. "Is it them two, or is it China?" In those years, when appeals were made on behalf of Liu Qingshan and Zhang Zishan, Mao Zedong posed this question.

This is a struggle that must be won. "Offend a thousand or a hundred people, but do not fail the 1.4 billion." Today, facing new challenges in the struggle against corruption, Chairman Xi's words are resolute and unequivocal.

On July 1, 2021, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. At the celebration, Chairman Xi pointed out: "Over the past hundred years, the Communist Party of China has submitted an outstanding answer sheet to the people and to history. Now, the Communist Party of China is uniting and leading the Chinese people to embark once again on a new journey of examination toward achieving the second centenary goal."

"Quickly stoke that furnace red-hot — only by striking while the iron is hot can success be achieved!" On the new journey, Communists press forward from one examination to the next, answering one test paper after another.

In January 2026, the Party Central Committee decided to place Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli under case review and investigation for suspected serious violations of Party discipline and law, solemnly reaffirming the firm position that no matter who it is, no matter how high their position, anyone who engages in corruption will absolutely not be tolerated (决不姑息).

"Our Party is a Marxist party that always represents the fundamental interests of the broadest masses of the people. It has no special interests of its own whatsoever. All thinking and behavior that seeks private gain and engages in corruption is utterly incompatible with the Party's nature and purpose." In April 2026, Chairman Xi emphasized at the opening ceremony of a training course for senior military officers: carry out ideological rectification (思想整风), deepen political consolidation training (政治整训), strengthen the revolutionary forging (革命性锻造) of our military's officer corps, always maintain the purity and glory of the people's army, and greet the centenary of the army's founding with a brand-new political bearing.

"Advance the revolutionary forging of the senior officer corps, lead officers and soldiers with a brand-new political bearing to advance the modernization of national defense and the military at high quality, and shoulder the historic responsibilities entrusted by the Party and the people." In May 2026, the Central Military Commission (中央军委) issued "Several Measures on Strengthening the Education, Management, and Supervision of Senior Military Officers," establishing iron rules for strict education, strict management, and strict supervision across the entire process of exercising duties and authority and in all aspects of work and life.

The Xibaipo Memorial Tower. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhu Xudong.

The times are the examiner; we are the test-takers; the people are the graders.

At the entrance to the Xibaipo Clean Governance Education Hall, a white marble tablet inscribed with the character for "integrity" (廉) stands quietly in clear water. "What is clear flows long; what is incorrupt travels far" — it declares to the past, the present, and the future——

Comprehensive and strict governance of the Party is always on the road; the Party's self-revolution is always on the road!

(V)

Hotan — "Road of Asking About Courage" (问勇路).

Running east to west, approximately 40 meters wide, with a total length of 5,043 meters, lined along the way by proudly standing green pines and cypresses.

Our magnificent land — not one inch to be yielded. (Archival image.)

In 2020, during the Galwan Valley clash, soldier Chen Xiangrong, not yet 19 years old, stepped forward to resist the enemy and shed his blood on the battlefield. When his unit went to offer condolences to his mother, Yao Jiusui, she asked not about compensation, not about benefits, but only one question: "I only want to know — was my son brave when he was fighting?"

When the news reached his comrades fighting on the wind-swept, snow-covered plateau, they answered the hero's mother through their tears: "Xiangrong's courage — the bravest in the three services!" (祥榕之勇，勇冠三军！)

This question is the people's deepest hope for their soldiers; this answer is the military's most solemn promise to the people.

What makes young soldiers utterly fearless and willing to sacrifice? What gives this army its indomitable will and courage? Gazing deep into history, those resounding oaths, that fierce spirit, those towering figures break through the barriers of time and strike our hearts again and again——

"We do not believe in missions that cannot be completed, in difficulties that cannot be overcome, in enemies that cannot be defeated." On the banks of the Chosin Reservoir, the wind and snow cut like knives, and only one man remained on the position. Yang Genji picked up the last satchel charge and died together with the enemy.

"I swear to live or die with the embankment!" During the 1998 flood-fighting effort, Li Xiangqun, a soldier of the "Tashan Defense Hero Regiment," collapsed four times in the mud and water, and each time he awoke, he pulled out his IV needle and went back to moving sandbags. He died of heart failure from extreme exhaustion at only 20 years of age.

"Let me go save one more!" During the Wenchuan earthquake relief effort, 19-year-old soldier Jing Lijie, who had enlisted not long before, knelt and pleaded, heedless of the frequent aftershocks, insisting on rushing back into the rubble.

"The epidemic does not retreat; we do not retreat!" During the Wuhan anti-epidemic effort, Song Caiping, a member of the Army Medical University medical team, held her post in the severe-case isolation ward. That "most beautiful face" deeply marked by the pressure of her mask reflected the sincere devotion of "life above all, the people above all" (生命至上、人民至上).

"Our magnificent land — not one inch to be yielded!" In the border struggle, Qi Fabao, commander of a border defense regiment of the Xinjiang Military Region (新疆军区), faced with provocation by foreign forces several times his own number, spread his arms wide and stood immovable as a mountain.

The courage of officers and soldiers is the blood-and-bone fighting spirit (血性胆气) forged by the soul of the military. From the day the people's army was born, our Party has used iron-like conviction, iron-like faith, iron-like discipline, and iron-like responsibility to cultivate, shape, and temper officers and soldiers. Wherever the Party flag points, the military flag follows; they heed the order and advance, sharp and irresistible.

Chairman Xi has profoundly pointed out: "The fundamental reason our army has been able to overcome all manner of hardship and difficulty and advance continuously from victory to victory is its unswerving adherence to the Party's command and following the Party's lead. This is the soul and the lifeblood of our army. It must never change; it must never be abandoned."

The courage of soldiers is not limited to the willingness to lay down one's life in moments of peril. More often, it is hidden in the biting cold wind at an ice-peak sentry post, in the sharp wake traced across ten thousand miles of sea and sky, in the thick smoke of gunpowder on the exercise ground.

In a certain sea area of the Western Pacific, two foreign warships attempted to pass through a formation of Chinese naval vessels. Xu Wenxi, a female helmsman aboard the PLA Navy destroyer Nanchang (南昌舰), frequently adjusted course as ordered to block them. Afterward, when asked whether she had thought about the danger, her heartfelt words moved tens of thousands of netizens: "Why think about that? Just do it! The interests of the motherland are above all else, including life."

The same sentiment resonates across time: "Who doesn't hope for peace? Everyone does. But the enemy won't let us live in peace — so since they won't, let's fight!" More than 70 years ago, at the Battle of Songgufeng, Fan Tian'en, commander of the 335th Regiment of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army (中国人民志愿军), directed his officers and soldiers to successfully block the retreat of an enemy division from positions without solid fortifications.

Resounding oaths. Photo by Liu Mingsong (archival image).

What time is this — the ability to fight is what stops fighting. For the people's army, the ability to fight and win battles is the most solid shield for safeguarding peace and the most hard-core commitment (最硬核的担当) to loyalty to the Party.

On the front lines of border defense, garrison officers and soldiers remain on constant alert, routinely conducting live-force confrontation exercises in high-altitude mountain terrain, three-dimensional patrols, and fire-strike drills. Every inch of national territory underfoot is a bottom line that must not be violated.

In the motherland's seas and skies, warships are arrayed in formation, warplanes patrol, and missiles fly skyward. Mission units draw their swords in struggle and sharpen their swords through drawing them, effectively shaping the situation and managing crises.

Around the Taiwan island, a series of joint exercises and training operations — "Joint Sword" (联合利剑), "Strait Thunder" (海峡雷霆), "Sacred Mission" (正义使命), and others — have been conducted in succession. Multi-service forces operate in integrated coordination, powerfully deterring "Taiwan independence" separatist forces and external interference schemes.

The leaves beside "Road of Asking About Courage" turn green year after year; the fighting spirit of daring to fight and being certain of victory is passed down from generation to generation. Rallied under the Party's banner, this army of ours always possesses the most resolute will, the most steadfast determination, and the most courageous advance.

Loyal courage — only for winning; pure love — only for China. The people's army is always the heroic force in which the Party and the people can place complete trust.

(VI)

Ningde — "Aimin Road" (爱民路, "Love the People Road").

In the 1980s, in Dalin Village, Ningde, Fujian, the per capita annual income was only 74 yuan. Upon learning of this, Xi Jinping, then Secretary of the Ningde Prefectural Party Committee, specially approved 60,000 yuan for road construction and school building. Years later, the villagers, now prosperous, erected a stone tablet at the road's entrance and named the road "Aimin Road."

At the age of not yet 16, Xi Jinping came to northern Shaanxi as an educated youth (知青). In the gullies and ridges of the Loess Plateau, amid the whistling winds, he came to understand deeply what the Chinese common people needed most. From a small village to the Party Central Committee, from village Party secretary to General Secretary, Chairman Xi has always held firm to one conviction: "We must do real things for the people!"

On December 30, 2012, treading through unmelted remnant snow, Chairman Xi came to the home of Tang Rongbin, a farmer in Fuping County, Hebei, grasped the old man's hands tightly, and asked in detail about his annual income, whether there was enough food, whether there were cotton quilts for the winter, whether there was enough coal for heating, how far the children had to travel to school, and whether it was convenient to see a doctor.

All these years later, Tang Rongbin has never forgotten the feeling of that moment: "When the General Secretary came to the house, it was just like a relative coming to visit."

From Liangjiahe to Zhengding, from Fujian to Zhejiang, from Shanghai to Beijing — sitting comfortably on a kang bed or a stool, eating simple food, chatting about everyday matters — Chairman Xi has sensed the warmth and cold of the common people and responded to the expectations of the masses——

"As a national leader, the people have placed me in this position, and I must always hold the people in the highest place in my heart."

"I will dedicate myself completely, never failing the people" (我将无我，不负人民).

In January 2016, the first symposium on promoting the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt was convened. Chairman Xi came straight to the point: "Today I may disappoint you — what we are discussing this time is not the question of development, but the question of protection."

The endless Yangtze River rolls on. Broader and deeper than rivers is the vision and foresight of Communists.

The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge. (Archival image.)

"When ecology flourishes, civilization flourishes." In March of this year, China's second law to bear the name "code" — the Ecological Environment Code of the People's Republic of China (《中华人民共和国生态环境法典》) — was adopted by a vote of the National People's Congress. From this code, people can profoundly understand the values of "harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature," the holistic view of "a community of life for humanity and nature," the systematic view of "mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands, and deserts," and the dialectical view of "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" (绿水青山就是金山银山)……

"Let the land of the motherland become ever more verdant and full of vitality." Chairman Xi's strategic deployment has been transformed into a magnificent metamorphosis across ten thousand miles of rivers and mountains.

In the waiting hall of Xiong'an Station in the Xiong'an New Area, a great clock — the "Millennium Wheel" (千年轮) — turns slowly.

"Our understanding of time is not measured in decades or centuries, but in centuries and millennia." On April 1, 2017, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council decided to establish the Xiong'an New Area. A party that had then been in power for less than 70 years began planning a millennium project.

"Building the Xiong'an New Area is a historic undertaking. One must maintain historical patience, embody the spirit of 'the achievement need not be credited to me' (功成不必在我), proceed steadily and surely, with one generation picking up where the last left off." Today, a "city of the future" suited for both work and living is rising from the ground.

The Baiyangdian scenery in the Xiong'an New Area. (Archival image.)

And the great transformation is not confined to the Xiong'an New Area! "Whether it is our pursuit of lucid waters and lush mountains, our poverty alleviation and the achievement of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, our joint construction of the 'Belt and Road,' or our several major strategies for coordinated regional development…… all are being done one thing at a time, carried out with meticulous care in accordance with the requirements of the Party Central Committee."

On the outer wall of the Municipal Party Committee Auditorium in Fuzhou, Fujian, eight large characters — "Act immediately, work with true diligence" (马上就办、真抓实干) — gleam in the sunlight.

In 1992, Comrade Xi Jinping pointed out at the Fifth Plenary Session of the Sixth Fuzhou Municipal Party Committee: last year we advocated "act immediately," and the results were very good. I think this year, in addition to these four characters, we should add four more: "work with true diligence." Subsequently, a series of people-friendly service mechanisms — including the "first-inquiry responsibility system" (首问责任制), the "time-limited completion system" (限时办结制), and the "full-process agency system" (全程代办制) — were continuously introduced and have continued to this day.

"Substance" (实) is the key — political achievement has its foundation; "action" (干) leads the way — political achievement has its roots. All difficult problems can only be solved through earnest action; all opportunities can only be seized through earnest action; all aspirations can only be realized through earnest action.

In Hohhot, a model city for supporting the military and giving preferential treatment to military personnel and their families (双拥模范城), Aimin Street and Bayi Road intersect at the core of the new urban district — just as the dreams of a strong nation and a strong military intertwine across time and space.

Looking toward the centenary of the army's founding, the goal is close at hand. Achieving the centenary goal of army-building on schedule and accelerating the building of the people's army into a world-class military is a strategic requirement for comprehensively building a modern socialist country. At this moment, in pressing forward through hard struggle, what is most to be avoided is empty talk and inconsistency; what is most needed is hard and earnest work, pressing forward with one sustained effort.

(VII)

Yan'an — "Long March Road" (长征路).

This road runs through the Yan'an New District. Nearby are also "Jiaxing Avenue," "Jinggangshan Road," "Zunyi Avenue," "East Is Red Boulevard" (东方红大道)…… Just as the journey of the Chinese revolution covered ten thousand miles, proceeding all the way.

Roads have always carried a special imagery in the narrative of the Chinese nation in modern times.

The Three Main Forces Converge. Oil painting by Cai Liang and Zhang Ziyi (collection of the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution, archival image).

Ninety years ago, the Central Red Army traversed the tortuous long road of 25,000 li and arrived victoriously in northern Shaanxi, forging a road of independence, self-strengthening, and self-confidence that astonished the world.

Facing the future, "no matter how far we travel, we must never forget the road we came from."

"What is a road? It is something trampled out from where there was no road, opened up from where there were only thorns." Coming from the layered green peaks of the Luoxiao Mountains, coming from the hail of bullets of the ten-thousand-li Long March, coming from the crisscrossing gullies of the Loess Plateau, coming from the poverty and backwardness of a fishing village in Shenzhen…… Over 105 years, the Communist Party of China has led the people to blaze new paths where there were none and to open broad thoroughfares through the thorns, forging a road of its own — the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics (中国特色社会主义道路).

This road is not only correct and viable, but has also been walked steadily and well.

This is the road of hope for national rejuvenation——

From 1913 to 1950, the world's average annual GDP growth rate was 1.82%, while China's was -0.02%. To build a large country with such a vast population and such backward development into a modern nation, one must first resolve the fundamental question of "where to go and how to get there."

Rising from the ruins of war, starting from a state of utter poverty, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, New China sought its path and pressed forward, growing step by step into the world's second-largest economy, the world's largest industrial nation, and the world's largest goods-trading nation…… moving closer to the center of the world stage as never before. Along this road, there have been low points and setbacks, detours and roundabout routes — but it has absolutely not taken the closed and rigid old road, nor the deviant road of changing its banner and direction.

This is a bright road that benefits the world——

Chairman Xi has pointed out: "Whether the road a country takes works or not depends fundamentally on whether it suits the country's actual conditions, whether it conforms to the trend of the times, whether it can bring about economic development, social progress, improvement of people's livelihoods, and social stability, whether it can win the support and endorsement of the people, and whether it can contribute to the cause of human progress."

Rejecting the law of the jungle, refusing hegemony and power politics, transcending zero-sum games. The road of Chinese-style modernization has created a new form of human civilization (人类文明新形态), expanded the pathways for developing countries to advance toward modernization, and provided a wholly new choice for those countries and nations that hope both to accelerate development and to maintain their own independence.

The great road is not walked alone; traveling together, one goes far. From the TAZARA Railway to the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway, from the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to China-Europe freight trains, from the "Belt and Road" to the community with a shared future for mankind (人类命运共同体)…… The Communist Party of China, which "seeks great harmony for the world" (为世界谋大同), has always stood firmly on the right side of history and on the side of the progress of human civilization, striving to contribute Chinese wisdom and Chinese solutions to the cause of human peace and development.

This is the only road, one that will not be turned back from no matter how many setbacks——

The road lies beneath our feet; the dream lies ahead. Advancing Chinese-style modernization is a pioneering undertaking without precedent in history. It will inevitably encounter all manner of foreseeable and unforeseeable risks, challenges, hardships, and obstacles — even surging waves and stormy seas. On the journey toward the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, there are still many "Loushan Passes" and "Lazikou Passes" (娄山关、腊子口) ahead……

"Move forward — don't look back!" The six large characters on the wall of the Shekou Reform and Opening Up Museum in Shenzhen convey the footsteps of history and issue the command to press toward the future.

Today, the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is an unstoppable tide!

"July 1" — the Party's birthday; "August 1" — the birthday of the people's army.

In the calendar of the Republic's holidays, these two dates are so close together. This is both history's account to today and today's declaration to the future——

The Liaoning and Shandong carrier strike groups conduct dual-carrier formation exercises. Photo by Chen Mengxi (archival image).

Toward the centenary, toward victory. The people's army, which shed blood and made sacrifices all along the road so that the Chinese nation could "stand up"; the people's army, which dedicated itself and struggled all along the road so that the Chinese nation could "grow prosperous"; the people's army, which has loyally provided escort all along the road so that the Chinese nation can "grow strong" — under the guidance of the Party's banner, it will surely march toward an even more glorious journey!