People can see a famous old photo on websites about World War II:
Convoys of US GMC military trucks snaking up a steep zigzag road in
southwest China's mountainous region.
It
illustrates the crucial lifeline that linked the Chinese
battlefield with allied forces 57 years ago. The road, nicknamed
"24-zig" because it has 24 sharp bends on a high mountain, was
believed to lie on the famous Stilwell Road, also known as the
Burma Road.
Along the road, mountains of guns, bullets and food were carried by
US trucks to China to fight against the Japanese troops. The
"24-zig" was so geologically typical and a symbol of the times that
its fame was soon spread worldwide by the international media.
However, after the war ended half a century ago, the precise
location of the "24-zig" faded from memory. Many Chinese, Japanese
and Westerners tried to pinpoint it along the Stilwell Road and the
Burma Road in Yunnan
Province, but it seemed to have disappeared off the face of the
earth.
Guo Shuya, a Chinese expert in World War II history, has been
studying the road for many years. In 2001, he happened to get a
piece of information from Japan that the "24-zig" was not on the
Stilwell Road as many experts believed, but actually on another
road in nearby Guizhou
Province.
Guo went to Guizhou and sought help from elderly drivers, and they
told him the "24-zig" was in a county named Qinglong, two hundreds
miles away from Guiyang, capital of Guizhou.
Guo made his way to Qinglong where he rediscovered the
"24-zig."
"I
have solved a riddle that has puzzled people worldwide for half a
century, " he said. "It seems that we still don't know very much
about World War II."
The Stilwell Road was a single road built in 1944 between India and
China's Yunnan Province. However, the international community
usually regarded all the traffic networks in southwest China as
being part of the famous road, which was named after Joseph
Stilwell, commander-in-chief of the China-Burma-India war
theater.
"The '24-zig' is indeed in Guizhou, and it can be seen as an
extension of the Stilwell Road," said Zhou Mingzhong, an official
with the Guizhou Transportation Bureau.
He
said that the road was built by US troops and remained undamaged.
These days curious drivers usually ride on the historic road for
fun.
"Currently, Guizhou is investing heavily in a campaign to build new
roads. However, we will preserve the "24-zig" according to its
original look," said Zhou, adding that "it is a relic of World War
II, and a symbol of Sino-American friendship."
Lin Kongxun, 80, a former interpreter with the US 1880 engineer
battalion stationed along the "24-zig," said that the road was so
dangerous many trucks overturned. "Whenever the US drivers got onto
the road, they prayed to God," said Lin, a professor from the
Huanan Agriculture University.
But it was the terrible, unforgettable road that guaranteed final
victory in the war against the Japanese, he asserted.
Guo's rediscovery of "24-zig" has amazed the world. Guo and Lin
believe that the road will serve as an emotional link between China
and the United States in the 21st century.
"I
hope people from different countries will return to the road to
remember its history, just like the reunion of surviving Chinese
and US pilots in Beijing in May this year," Guo said.
Before the India-Burma-China road was constructed, all strategic
materials had to be carried into China by air. A total of 468 US
planes crashed when crossing the Himalayas, killing 1,579
pilots.
Lin said a reunion of veterans of the 1880 engineer battalion was
held in 1986. "After the gathering, I received a lot of pictures
and reports about the Stilwell Road mailed by my American friends,"
he said.
(Xinhua News
Agency August 14, 2002)