The Seminar in Memory of the 110th Anniversary of Edgar Snow’s Birth is Held

Wen Wei Po, Beijing, October 19 ( Reporter in Beijing: Li Yang ) The Tomb of Edgar Snow, an American Friend of the Chinese People, by the Weiming Lake at Peking University is presented with many flowers today. The Seminar in Memory of the 110th Anniversary of Edgar Snow’s Birth was held at Peking University this afternoon jointly by China Society for People’s Friendship Studies and China Center for Edgar Snow Studies of Peking University.

Edgar Snow was born in Missouri in 1905. In 1928, he came to China and began his 13-year career as a journalist in China. From June to October 1936, he visited the Northern Shaanxi Revolutionary Base and met with leaders of the CPC such as Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai. In 1937, Snow’s reportage on the Northern Shaanxi Soviet area Red Star Over China was published in the United Kingdom, making him the first journalist who comprehensively and fairly covered the top leaders of the CPC and the Red Army.

Li Qiang, Vice Chairman of Peking University Council, said, “More than 70 years ago, Edgar Snow told the story of a real China to the rest of the world, enabling the world to set its sights on China. His goal was to enable more foreigners to better understand China, a country with different cultural background and political system. We are here today to commemorate Edgar Snow, and to carry forward the spirit of international friends and let people in more countries understand the development and changes in today’s China.” Nancy Hill, President of Edgar Snow Memorial Foundation, said: “We are here to commemorate the 110th anniversary of Edgar Snow’s birth. As a pioneer of Western journalists, he built a bridge of understanding and friendship between China and the United States. Edgar Snow Memorial Foundation will protect his legacy and carry forward the great cause of friendship and mutual trust between the two peoples.”

More than 10 scholars from China and the United States attended the seminar.