The second stop of my first backpacking trip was Haifeng (海丰), a city sits in the east of Shenzhen near the coastline. It's known as one of the revolutionary bases for China's Red Army. This isn't a tourist city, so a traveler with backpacks like me didn't quite fit in. Arrived by bus from Shenzhen, it was kind of late, I went out straight to get some food and tour around the neighborhood after I settled myself in a hotel. Back then 4G was not possible, few hotels had Wifi access, and Google map was available to use in the mainland of China, It could get me anywhere I wanted to go without being lost while nowadays, the map apps produced in China often mislead users.
Walked by a high school, what surprised me was the front gate of the school was lit by 2 red lights at night, kind of spooky, in Yangshuo, only red light zone would do that. As I roamed around the city, I saw more and more gates with red light lit above their front doors, from shops to local people's houses. Later I got to know why they did that. Around a corner, I found a street food place that served soups, the one I had didn't look great but super delicious.
Chinese national hero Tianxiang Wen (文天祥 1236-1283) in Song Dynasty was arrested and killed in Haifeng, local government built a park for memorizing him right on the spot where he sacrificed. I found this park on Google map and visited it.
The pavilion in the park was built for Tianxiang Wen, and there were other statues of martyrs from red army.
Streets of Haifeng, small temples were pinched in between 2 big buildings every couple of blocks, that was something very rare to see the place where I come from.
I was told by some local people to visit Red Area (红场), the base of Red Army.
This was the office building for Red Army, and then it turned into a temporary hospital when the war broke out.
Meeting area for the Red Army.
Pengpai (澎湃) the martyr that had great contribution to the revolution, well-honored in Red Area, just like a rock star, even the name of the high school is after his.
A temple in Red Area with dragons on the top.
Haifeng was an interesting city, but unless you have enough time and you are very interested in the history of Red Army, then you probably won't want to visit it.