The Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in the east China’s Nanjing is a place of pilgrimage for Chinese. Over the decades, many state leaders and political figures have visited the site. And Sun Yat-sen and his Mausoleum have great significance for the development of cross-strait ties.

In China you can “Zhongshan Road,” “Zhongshan Park,” or “Zhongshan Hospital” in many cities across the country. They are all named after Sun Yat-sen, to memorize one of the most important political figures in the history of modern China. And at the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum is where the “great forerunner of the Chinese democratic revolution” rests.

Sun led the Revolution of 1911 that overthrew the Qing dynasty, and put an end to more than 2,000 years of feudal monarchy in China. He was appointed to serve as Provisional President of the Republic of China when it was founded in 1912. But he quickly resigned because of pressure from warlords. He continued his fight with the warlords and co-founded the Kuomintang (the “Chinese Nationalist Party”) serving as its first leader.

Sun brokered a fragile alliance between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China in the 1920s, and the two parties worked together in the Northern Expedition against the warlords in an effort to unify the country.

Sun was a uniting figure in post-Imperial China, and he remains unique among 20th century Chinese politicians for being widely revered amongst people from both sides of the Taiwan Strait, and overseas Chinese.

Sun died of liver cancer at just 58 years old, on March 12, 1925. Both the Kuomintang and the Communist Party honor his memory. He was buried, according to his wishes, in the Purple Golden Mountain of Nanjing, the city where the provisional government was founded after the 1911 Revolution.

The deep historical significance, magnificent architecture and beautiful scenery make Sun Yat-sen’s Mausoleum a place of pilgrimage for Chinese people.

One notable visit was in 2005, when Taiwan’s Kuomintang chief Lien Chan paid a historic visit to the mainland. His first stop of a four-city-tour was here in Nanjing, where he paid tribute to the first leader of his party. That visit was the first by an incumbent Kuomintang chief in 56 years.

Since then, more and more people from Taiwan, including political figures, business leaders and tourists, have visited this very location, to honor Sun—a sign of improved and warming cross-strait relations.