Long March

American  

noun

1. the 6,000-mile (9,654-km) retreat of the Chinese Communist Party and Red Army from southeastern China (Jiangxi province) to the northwest (Yanan in Shaanxi province) in 1934–35, during which Mao Zedong became leader of the Communist party.

---

Long March British  

noun

1. a journey of about 10 000 km (6000 miles) undertaken (1934–35) by some 100 000 Chinese Communists when they were forced out of their base in Kiangsi in SE China. They made their way to Shensi in NW China; only about 8000 survived the rigours of the journey

---

Long March Cultural  

1. An important event in the history of the Chinese communists. Driven from southern and eastern China by Chiang Kai-shek at the end of the 1920s, the communist leader Mao Zedong led his forces on a long march to safety in the northwest part of China. From there, they staged attacks on the Japanese invaders and eventually on Chinese government troops — attacks that led to their conquest of China in 1949.

---

Etymology

Origin of Long March

First recorded in 1935–40; translation of Chinese chángzhēng

Example Sentences

China’s heavy-lift rockets for lunar landings, like the Long March 9 and 10, won’t be ready for operation until 2030.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 8, 2026

Two subsequent tests of China’s Long March 10, a super-heavy lift rocket designed to jump-start the mission, were a “complete success,” according to the China Manned Space Agency.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 20, 2025

China's Long March 5B booster re-entered over the Indian Ocean in 2022, and the Tiangong-1 space station mostly burned up over the Pacific in 2018.

From BBC • May 7, 2025

Some countries have already had to deal with this — in 2022, Spain and France closed parts of their airspace to avoid a falling Chinese Long March 5B rocket.

From Salon • Apr. 12, 2025

The Shenzhou-18 spacecraft lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on the edge of the Gobi Desert in northwestern China atop a Long March 2-F rocket at 8:59 p.m.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 25, 2024