You are invited to an illustrated talk on the Long March by Sun Shuyun next Tuesday, 28th February. This free event will be held at Camden Chinese Community Center, 9 Tavistock Place, London WC1H 9SN.

Acclaimed writer and film-maker Sun Shuyun will be talking about her book and her journey following the Red Army’s historical Long March from the southeast to northwest of China.

Sun Shuyun has written about the founding myth of modern China, the testing march for survival of the Communist armies during the mid-1930s. Brought up and inspired by the stories of heroism, suffering and sacrifice, she retraced the route of the trek from the southern mountains of Jinggangshan to the arid hills of Yan'an in the northwestern province of Shaanxi, which became the Communist base during the war against Japanese occupation.

Shuyun has penetratingly and critically explored the myths and stories of this epic historical episode, and interviewed many of the local people and veterans of those experiences, revealing many aspects which paint a more realistic and complicated picture than the officially promoted version of history.

Sun Shuyun is the author of several other exploratory books on ancient and modern China: A Year in Tibet, and Ten Thousand Miles Without a Cloud, which recounts the historical tale of the journey of the Chinese Buddhist monk, Xuanzang, who travelled to India and back to bring the Buddhist sutras to China during the 7th Century. Sun Shuyun herself travelled to these places to experience life in Tibet and to explore the territories along the Buddhist sutra road.

To book a place for this talk, please send an email stating your name, email address and telephone number to: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

28 February 2012 (Tuesday)
6:15pm – 8:00pm
With free Chinese tea from 6:15pm.

Camden Chinese Community Centre
9, Tavistock Place, London WC1H 9SN
Tel: 020 7388 8883

Nearest tube stations:
Russell Square, Euston

CHINA TOUR SEPTEMBER 2012
THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE LONG MARCH
19th – 30th October 2012

This talk will provide a vivid background for those who are interested in following in the footsteps of the Long March with the next Meridian Society tour, and for all others more generally interested.

This year’s tour follows the last stretch of the Red Army’s Long March from 1934 to 1936. Both a historical as well as scenic tour covering magnificent scenery of mountains, valleys and grasslands, this route will take you through a multitude of cultural areas in the northwestern area from Chengdu to Yan’an.