Across the country on Sunday, Chinese citizens commemorated the 30th death anniversary of China's first premier, Zhou Enlai (1898 - 1976).

 

In Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, visitors flocked to the Meiyuan Xincun Memorial Hall where Zhou and a Communist Party of China (CPC) delegation lived and negotiated with the Kuomintang during China's Liberation War (1946-1949), to pay their respects.

 

Zhou's Alma Mater Nankai University in north China's Tianjin Municipality held a grand ceremony to mark the occasion.

 

Another commemorative activity was the publication of A Pictorial Biography of Zhou Enlai.

 

Zhou's life, his achievements in liberating the Chinese people and his efforts to further the cause of socialism, and of course his lofty spirit and idealism are captured in the book's 1,000 photos.

 

The hardback edition contains more than 1,000 pictures, while the paperback edition contains some 600 photos. The photos were selected from among approximately 10,000 historical snapshots.

 

Several historical documents, some written in Zhou's hand, are also included in the book.

 

The book was compiled by the Party Literature Research Center of the CPC Central Committee and the CPC Sichuan Provincial Committee, and was published by the Sichuan Provincial Publishing Group Incorporation and Sichuan People's Publishing House on January 1, 2006.

 

Considered one of the greatest revolutionaries and diplomats in Chinese history, Zhou played an important part in China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1937-1945) and the Liberation War.

 

He served as the first premier of the People's Republic of China from 1949 to 1976.

 

(Xinhua News Agency January 9, 2006)