Zhurihe Training Base

The Zhurihe Training Base (Chinese: 朱日和训练基地), also called the Zhurihe Combined Tactics Training Base,[1] is a People's Liberation Army (PLA) base in Inner Mongolia, China,[2][3] founded in 1957.[4] The largest military base in China, Zhurihe covers 1,066 square kilometres (412 sq mi), has its own hospital, and for over 60 years[5] has hosted multiple mock training areas for conducting urban war games.[6] General Secretary and Chairman Xi Jinping commemorated the 90th anniversary of the PLA with a military parade at Zhurihe.[7] The PLA has called Zhurihe their "most modernized training base" and say it is the largest in Asia.[8] Comparisons have been made between Zhurihe and Fort Irwin in California, United States.[6]

The first edition of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Military Tattoo (seen here) took place at Zhurihe in 2014.

Zhurihe is home to the 81st Army Group.[4] The base is overseen by the PLA's Beijing Military Area Command.[1]

The base features a variety of mock facilities including highways, an airstrip,[5] a town center with buildings—one of which closely resembles the Presidential Office Building in Taipei, Taiwan—and a near-replica of the Eiffel Tower.[8] Many of these structures were built between 2013 and 2015.

In July 1997, the Central Military Commission designated Zhurihe to be modernized and turned into a training base for China.[1] The PLA opened the base to foreign armed forces for the first time on August 25, 2003.