A small memorial near the Lingshui airbase marks the memory of Wang Wei, the Chinese naval aviator who died in the mid-air collision of 1 April 2001 between his J-8 fighter and a US Navy EP-3E reconnaissance aircraft over the South China Sea. The collision triggered a diplomatic standoff: the EP-3 made an unauthorised emergency landing at Lingshui, and the 24 American crew members were detained for eleven days while US and Chinese officials negotiated a face-saving resolution. The US eventually delivered what became known as the "Letter of the Two Sorries," expressing regret without admitting espionage.
The memorial is not a tourist site and receives few visitors. It is oddly affecting if you seek it out — a roadside marker for a pilot whose death caused a diplomatic crisis and who remains, officially, a hero of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. The nearby airbase is an active military installation; the memorial can be visited without approaching the airfield perimeter.