Qu was born in 1921, the same year the CPC was founded. Revolutionary vibes permeated her life early on.

At the age of seven, she had already helped her mother provide cover for delegates to cross the border to the Soviet Union to attend the CPC's sixth National Congress. At a tender age, she understood that a communist is one who does good deeds for the people.

In the early 1940s, Qu and her mother were captured and imprisoned by enemy forces upon their return to China. During an interrogation when she was asked whether she would choose death or abandon the revolutionary, Qu said: "I always believe in communism and I won't think twice. The Party is fighting for the interests of the nation... People's liberation, rights, freedom and well-being are what I pursue. Death is glorious."

By the time Qu was rescued and she formally joined the Party in 1946, she had known what lifelong dedication to communism really meant.

At the Party's base in Yan'an, Qu and her husband used to work for Xinhua News Agency, and on Oct 1, 1949, they truly saw the rise of "Xinhua" -- meaning New China -- with the founding of the PRC. A day Qu said she never forgot.

"The most exciting part was when Chairman Mao announced the founding of the central government of the PRC," she said in a memoir. Fourteen years after her father's martyrdom, the day turned a new page in history.

Qu was called to the state radio station where she broadcast Chairman Mao's speech to the world in Russian. It made her the first journalist to report the PRC's founding to a global audience.

In March 1950, Qu and her husband were among the first correspondents China sent abroad. They helped build Xinhua's Moscow bureau from scratch. They dispatched many first-hand reports about the Soviet Union for the audience of the young people's republic.

At times, Qu would double as a translator for the Chinese embassy. She did interpretations for the then premier Zhou Enlai and the visiting Chinese delegations.

Qu started working with Xinhua's international news department in Beijing in 1978 and retired in 1982.

In 2021, prior to the Party's centenary, Qu was awarded the July 1st Medal, the highest honor of CPC, becoming the only journalist to receive the title.

"The CPC is 100 years old. So am I," she said in a June interview.

On Nov 26, Qu passed away in Beijing, marking an end to her extraordinary life. But her remarkable works and the family's legacy shall live on.