Historic site brings tourists and wealth

Dressed in a replica army uniform, Lai Jinhua, a tour guide at the site of the famous Gutian Conference, shuttled between groups of visitors to tell them stories about the Red Army, a predecessor of the People's Liberation Army.

During the five-day May Day holiday, the site in East China's Fujian province received around 40,000 tourists, traveling individually or as part of tour groups, with some even wearing replica Red Army uniforms, aiming to connect with the revolutionary past and reclaim the revolutionary spirit.

"The number of visitors has risen every year with the growing awareness of patriotism, and as people pay more attention to Red Tourism, which deepens their understanding of a key meeting in army history and spurs the economic growth of my hometown," said Lai, who was losing her voice after spending a day talking to visitors.

Gutian, an ancient town in Shanghang county in the west of Fujian, is enveloped by mountains and lush forests. It became a place of great significance as a result of a decisive event in the history of the Communist Party of China and the Red Army.

In March 1929, the Fourth Army of the Red Army, led by Mao Zedong, marched to Fujian in an attempt to establish a new revolutionary base.

To ensure the success of the Party and the army, Mao and the other leaders presided over the Ninth Party Conference of the Fourth Army in Gutian. That meeting is now known as the Gutian Conference.

Mao and the other leaders agreed that the army must be led by the Party, and it was the people's army as it came from the people and was for the people.

"Only after I became a tour guide and started learning about the historic meeting did I understand the difficulties the Party experienced in the early days, as well as its spirit of never giving up," Lai said.

In October 2014, a military political work conference was held in Gutian. President Xi Jinping, also chairman of the Central Military Commission, said the Party should focus on the importance of political work in strengthening and rejuvenating the army and should also strive to develop under new conditions.

The new Gutian meeting was another milestone in the PLA's ideological and political construction on the road to a better country and a stronger army.

Thanks to the two meetings, the remote township has become a popular Red Tourism destination, and, as the Party will celebrate its centenary on July 1, enthusiasm for revolutionary history is high among those interested in China's revolutionary culture.

In 2019, more than 5.6 million people visited Gutian, and, despite the COVID-19 epidemic, over 10,000 tourists visited the township every day during this year's Spring Festival holiday, according to the local government.

"I came here not only because I knew the history of the conference, but also to pay tribute to the revolutionary martyrs. After seeing the revolutionary cultural relics and listening to the stories, I understand that the success of the revolution was not achieved easily," said Zhou, a banker from Hubei province, who preferred not to give her full name.

As revolutionary cultural relics are records of the great course and developments of the Chinese revolution, Gutian has invested heavily to restore and protect revolutionary cultural relics.

At the conference site, visitors can see such relics as the first printed newspaper published by the army, a bed covered by a ragged quilt and the soot left by the fire the participants lit to heat the building, all of which tell the story of the past.

In addition, new technologies such as augmented and virtual reality help to restore "red memories" for visitors.

"All the facilities at the site are displayed as they were back then," said Zeng Hanhui, curator of the Gutian Conference Memorial Hall. He added that every revolutionary cultural relic records historic changes, while touching stories tell of the Party's efforts to overcome difficulties and forge ahead.

Relying on its red resources, Gutian has been introducing training and study tours to the site to help shape it as an exemplary base of red culture.

"Every year, we receive more than 100,000 people who come here for Party history education," said Qiu Weiqin, deputy secretary of the Party committee of Shanghang.