China Matters Feature: Seeking Edgar Snow -- How the World Discovered the Long March

BEIJING, Nov. 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 90 years ago, as the Long March ended in the rugged hills of northern Shaanxi, an American journalist made a journey that changed the world's view of China. In a recent visit to Bao'an, now part of Yan'an's Zhidan County, Eric Foster, a writer and nephew of Edgar Snow, met Zhavier Harris, a communications manager who retraced the Long March route years ago. They sat in a cave dwelling where Snow held nightlong talks with Mao Zedong in 1936.

Harris first learned of the Long March at Hampton University. A decade later, he walked along the full route of the Long March in 47 days. Foster said that his uncle Edgar Snow, the first foreign journalist who visited the revolutionary base area, told the world the truth about the Red Army, then branded as "Red bandits" by newspapers controlled by the Kuomintang government.

Foster told the story behind the iconic 1936 portrait of Mao in a Red Army cap: Snow trimmed Mao's hair and lent him his own cap. Red Star Over China, written by Edgar Snow, created a great sensation soon after it was published in London in 1937. Time's Theodore White likened it to Columbus recounting America at the Spanish court; Sinologist Owen Lattimore said it rose like fireworks against a darkening sky. President Franklin Roosevelt summoned Snow to the White House three times. Inspired by the book, internationalists such as doctor Norman Bethune and others came to China to provide medical service.

They then met Ma Yifei, founder of Yan'an's Red Star Garden, who built a memorial hall to commemorate international friends who helped China. Revamped from a bomb shelter, the memorial hall houses a photo exhibition, which Ma calls the Time Tunnel. It includes Helen Snow's 1937 photo of old Yan'an, a rare record of the town before wartime bombing; her archives are kept by Brigham Young University. The exhibition also features Israel Epstein, who at Soong Ching Ling's invitation helped launch China Reconstructs, now China Today magazine.

As a native in Yan'an, Ma said he decided to build this memorial hall for his admiration for Snow. It was first mounted in 2017, when Kansas City, Snow's hometown, signed a sister-city agreement with Yan'an. Ma noted, inspired by Snow's book, more than 100 foreigners traveled to Yan'an during that time. Foster has been writing books about China, including one on China's four decades of development. He hopes to carry the spirit of friendship forward. Nine decades on, the Long March has reached beyond China, kept alive by ordinary people building friendships across continents.

YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2syrcIihM4o

SOURCE China Matters