* A copy of “Red Star Over China” displayed at the memorial hall caught the attention of visitors. Written in the late 1930s by Snow, the book offered the world a rare, firsthand account of China at a time when the country was largely misunderstood by the West.
* The spirit of Snow’s extraordinary bond with China still lingers in Yan’an’s sun-baked hills. Today, a new generation of global visitors retraces his path — seeing China not through the lens of preconception, but through the clear-eyed wonder of firsthand discovery.
* From these voices emerges a shared conviction: the world today still needs the Snow spirit — a spirit grounded in understanding, respect and sincere dialogue.
YAN’AN, China, July 21 (Xinhua) — At the Yan’an Revolutionary Memorial Hall, northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, there is a statue of American journalist Edgar Snow, who once ventured deep into China’s revolutionary heartland.
With notebook in hand and moral clarity in heart, Snow constructed an unprecedented bridge of mutual respect and understanding between China and the rest of the world that still stands today.
This year marks both the 80th anniversary of the World Anti-Fascist victory and the 120th anniversary of Snow’s birth. Today, the spirit Snow embodied continues to serve as a meaningful link between cultures — a lasting force for mutual respect in an increasingly complex world.
LIFELONG FRIEND OF CHINESE PEOPLE
A copy of “Red Star Over China” displayed at the memorial hall caught the attention of visitors. Written in the late 1930s by Snow, the book offered the world a rare, firsthand account of China at a time when the country was largely misunderstood by the West.
Yernar Mausumbekov, a visitor from Kazakhstan, lingered in front of the display. “Snow tried to convey a real China through his keen eye,” he said. “I think that was a very powerful and meaningful act of communication.”
In 1936, at a time when China was embroiled in internal conflict and external aggression, Snow made his way to the remote headquarters of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in northwest China’s Shaanxi Province. As the first Western journalist to enter the area, he conducted extensive interviews and careful documentation there.
Snow’s reporting culminated in “Red Star Over China,” in which he painted a picture of a resilient, promising country that the world rarely saw, and challenged the world’s misunderstandings and prejudices about China.
After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Snow paid three visits to the country. He remained concerned about China following his visits, and firmly supported the just cause of the Chinese people. He was therefore regarded as a lifelong friend of the Chinese people.
The spirit of Snow’s extraordinary bond with China still lingers in Yan’an’s sun-baked hills. Today, a new generation of global visitors retraces his path — seeing China not through the lens of preconception, but through the clear-eyed wonder of firsthand discovery.
Among them is Bryson Allen, a student from Utah Tech University in the United States, who has recently toured Yan’an.
Stepping into Yan’an, he encountered a reality starkly at odds with Western portrayals, a dissonance that deepened his admiration for Snow’s extraordinary bravery in transcending ideological barriers to reveal truths.
“With that spirit, I really felt that different countries can continue to build bridges of understanding and forever-lasting friendship,” said Allen.
VITAL BRIDGE BETWEEN CHINA AND WORLD
At Yan’an’s Red Star Garden, a towering 3-meter bronze statue of Edgar Snow gazes across the revolutionary landscape, a permanent tribute erected in 2012 to celebrate international bridge-builders and perpetuate their vision of cross-cultural understanding.
Yan’an remains the living heart of Snow’s legacy, and today that enduring bond continues to shape the city’s ties with the wider world. In 2017, Yan’an and Snow’s hometown — Kansas City in the U.S. state of Missouri — established a sister city relationship, followed by deepening cultural exchanges.
This year, Yan’an further expanded its international outreach with a series of cultural programs, including the event “Following Snow’s Footsteps: Global Young Bilingual Hosts and Anchors Amazing China-Yan’an Tour,” where young students from different countries visited Yan’an, immersing themselves in its rich history and drawing enduring inspiration from Snow’s legacy.
One of the participants was Rio Ohori, a Japanese student at the Communication University of China. She said the event helped her understand the spirit embodied by Snow, vowing to show the world a true China through her own work.
Snow’s profound legacy stretches beyond Yan’an to Beijing, where in 1934 he began shaping young minds as a lecturer of Yenching University, the heart of what is today Peking University campus. In death as in life, his bond with China endured: a part of his ashes now rest by Peking University’s Weiming Lake, fulfilling his final wish to remain forever where East and West first truly met for him.
Honoring its historic ties to Snow, Peking University has continued to host commemorative events and academic exchanges in his honor. In May, the university organized a commemorative conference on the 120th anniversary of Snow’s birth, drawing scholars from around the world. Many deemed the enduring Snow spirit a vital bridge between China and the world.
“Snow devoted his life to true international friendship,” said Sun Hua, director of Peking University’s China Center for Edgar Snow Studies. “His spirit remains timeless and continues to inspire us today.”
RED STAR LIGHTING FUTURE
In the height of summer, Yan’an is vibrant with greenery. Sunlight bathes Baota Mountain, now cloaked in lush foliage. The Yanhe River winds gently along, its banks adorned with drooping willows, painting a scene brimming with vitality.
Sheradil Baktygulov, director of the Institute of World Policy of Kyrgyzstan, stepping for the first time onto the “Loess Plateau” he had only read about in books, was pleasantly surprised. He had expected Yan’an to be “dreary and barren,” but what he saw instead was clear skies, thriving trees and towering buildings.
“This is nothing like the Yan’an I imagined,” said Baktygulov. Since his first visit to China in 1998, he has witnessed the country’s tremendous transformation. He added that due to ideological bias, China is often misunderstood, but “Snow’s curiosity and objectivity, especially as shown during his time in Yan’an, offer a firm basis for fair understanding of the Chinese development.”
Baktygulov’s opinion is echoed by Andrew Smith, an American teacher from the School of Foreign Languages at Northwest University, who noted that with so much misinformation about China in Western media nowadays, foreigners in China should follow Snow’s spirit and work tirelessly to get the truth out to the world.
From these voices emerges a shared conviction: the world today still needs the Snow spirit — a spirit grounded in understanding, respect and sincere dialogue.
Efforts to renew that spirit are ongoing. The Yan’an Revolutionary Memorial Hall is preparing a special exhibition dedicated to Snow, offering a deeper look into his life and work. Meanwhile, Peking University’s China Center for Edgar Snow Studies is developing a foreign friends database to shed light on those who contributed to China’s development.
“Helping the world understand China is even more important now than in Snow’s time,” said Sun, stressing that the Snow spirit should be preserved and passed down through generations.
Today, the light of the “Red Star” still shines — not only on those who have told and continue to tell China’s story, but also on the enduring friendships between China and the rest of the world.
(Video reporter: Li Yaguang, Zhang Sijie; video editors: Zhang Yucheng, Li Qin)■
