Chinese leaders watch gala marking 80th anniversary of Long March victory

BEIJING, Oct. 19 -- President Xi Jinping and other senior leaders on Wednesday watched a gala commemorating the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Long March.

Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, Zhang Dejiang, Yu Zhengsheng, Liu Yunshan, Wang Qishan and Zhang Gaoli joined over 3,000 spectators to watch the gala held at the Great Hall of the People.

The Long March was a military maneuver carried out by the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army of the Communist Party of China (CPC) from 1934 to 1936.

The performances, including singing and dancing, recalled the hardships that the Red Army endured during the period and showcased the CPC members' firm belief in communism, regardless of sacrifice or suffering.

It also showcased the CPC's leading role in saving and revitalizing the nation in hard times.

From October 1934 to October 1936, the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army soldiers left their bases and marched through raging rivers, snowy mountains and arid grassland to break the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party) siege and continue to fight the Japanese invaders. Some marched for 12,500 kilometers.