XIAMEN, June 1  -- The song "We are the successors to Communism" is sung by generation after generation of children across China.

It is the anthem of the Young Pioneers of China, a youth organization for children.

Despite its popularity, few people know about the story behind it.

It was originally the theme song of a 1961 film, Heroic Little Soldiers of the Eighth Route Army, which depicts the story of five young pioneers reconnecting a phone line that was broken by enemy fire during the revolutionary period.

The film was inspired by a 1958 true story of 13 students with Hecuo Primary School in Xiamen, east China's Fujian Province.

He Mingquan was one of the students.

He said, at the end of 1958, a group of people from different walks of life visited the frontline in Xiamen and was surprised by what they were doing.

In 1978, the song was selected as the anthem of the Young Pioneers of China.

Today, it is still sung by children.

Produced by Xinhua Global Service