NANCHANG, July 28 (Xinhua) -- China on Saturday reopened the memorial hall on the historic Nanchang uprising, which produced the first army under the command of the Communist Party of China (CPC) that eventually evolved into the People's Liberation Army.

    The uprising in Nanchang, capital of east China's Jiangxi Province, led by the CPC, took place on August 1, 1927, now remembered as the PLA's founding day.

    The uprising saw some 20,000 soldiers breaking away from the Nationalist Party forces. Its leaders including late premier Zhou Enlai and marshals Zhu De and He Long, as well as a large number of senior military and government officials.

    The renovation of the memorial had lasted for more than a year at a cost of about 150 million yuan (19.7 million U.S. dollars). The exhibition area is increased to 3,625 square meters. Multimedia technology is widely used to reproduce the uprising and the development of the PLA.

    The previous memorial was built in 1959 and received nearly 15 million visits over the past 40 years.

    August 1 this year marks the PLA's 80th anniversary.