Combination photo taken on Oct. 12, 2016 shows Ren Qun, a 98-year-old Red Army veteran, making a military salute (upper) and his chest scar (L, lower) and his portrait (R, lower). This year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the Red Army's Long March, which started from October 1934 to October 1936. During the Long March, the Red Army, the forerunner of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), carried out a daring military maneuver that laid the foundation for the eventual victory of the Communist Party of China (CPC). The Red Army marched through raging rivers, snowy mountains and arid grasslands to break the Kuomintang regime's grip on the country and to continue their fight against Japanese invaders. Some of them marched as far as 12,500 kilometers, enduring hunger, thirst and cold. (Xinhua/Jiang Hongjing)
