Project Description: The Burma Road
In the summer of 2005, Lei traveled to his home province on the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II to conduct research for an academic project on the history of The Burma Road. He followed the course of the historic Burma Road through the formidable Gaoligong Mountains, with peaks reaching as high as 16,000 feet. His research led him to the city of Tengchong, and the preserved battlefield of Songshan (Pine Mountain). Songshan and the nearby Huitong Bridge were the scenes of vicious fighting between the Japanese occupiers and the troops of Nationalist China’s Expeditionary Force. Songshan was a fortress complex situated on a strategic peak that dominated the surrounding valleys. The samples here are translations from chapters in a book about Songshan, and an interview conducted with a surviving veteran of this campaign.
