Flourishing industry

Red tourism is thriving across China. Although some museums, memorials and patriotic education sites were free of charge, the total income from red tourism in 2010 still reached 130.2 billion yuan ($20.2 billion). Red tourism attracted about 430 million tourists, accounting for 20 percent of all domestic tourists that year, according to data from the National Tourism Administration.

In the same year, the industry also created 912,000 direct jobs and more than 3.7 million indirect jobs. Red tourism has become a pillar of China's tourism business and has brought in good political, social and economic benefits.

 The old revolutionary base areas have built 106 railway stations, and completed 127 red tourism highway projects with a total length of 3,418 km. Also, many key airports for red scenic spots have been constructed or reconstructed in the past six years.

The improvement of infrastructures for red scenic spots not only brought about a huge population flow, but also logistics flow, information and capital flow to those revolutionary sites. "The industry generates new opportunities for the old revolutionary base areas," said Huang Xijia, Tourism specialist and Associate Dean of the School of Economics and Management at Nanchang University. "The local farmers' new business models, including running family inns, organizing red shows for visitors, and developing red cultural products and services, have effectively expanded employment and increase their incomes."

It is expected that the number of red tourism visitors will exceed 800 million in 2015, with the comprehensive revenue of the sector totaling 200 billion yuan ($31 billion).

 Dai Bin, President of the China Tourism Academy, said the red tourism industry is enjoying the nationwide boom, but the big challenge facing the industry is the balancing of the relationship between patriotic education and commercial operation.

"More red scenic spots should be open for free to allow the public to learn more about China's red culture and its revolutionary history," he said.

"Because we were born in the 1980s, we are far removed from this period of history. But young Chinese people should not forget the history," said Han. "[By traveling to old revolutionary sites this time], I think I have experienced, and want to learn about the spirit of those old revolutionaries – to never give up and keep on struggling for success," he said, adding "It is really worth visiting and it is quite meaningful."

Popular Red Scenic Spots in China

Shaoshan, Hunan Province

> Shaoshan is the birthplace of Mao Zedong (1893-1976), founder of the People's Republic of China. Located about 100 km from Hunan Province's capital Changsha, Shaoshan has a moist, subtropical, monsoon climate with four distinctive seasons.

Mao's childhood home is a must-see. The thatched roof cottage has a courtyard and sits on a wooded hillside, above lush paddy fields. Within the rooms are various personal belongings of Mao and his parents. Local stores sell everything related to Mao. Local restaurants also serve up Mao's favorite dishes.

Jinggangshan, Jiangxi Province

> Jinggangshan is known as the "cradle of the Chinese revolution" and is the birthplace of the Chinese Red Army of Workers and Peasants (1927-36), the forerunner of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. The main tourist site is the Jinggangshan Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery, which is located in the north of Beiyan Peak in Ciping, once a military base of the Red Army.

Zunyi, Guizhou Province

> Zunyi is about 170 km north of Guiyang, the capital city of Guizhou Province. After the famous Zunyi Conference in 1935, Mao and two other leaders formed a leadership group to better manage the Long March.

This important meeting was held in a two-story house built in the 1930s with a mix of Chinese and Western architectural styles. The conference site has been converted into a memorial commemorating the Long March and boasts a collection of more than 1,500 historical relics.

Yan'an, Shaanxi Province

> Red tourism has blossomed in Yan'an, a city boasting over 350 sites related to the revolution. Among these sites is a former residence of Mao, a cave dwelling in a place called Zaoyuan (Jujube Orchard).

It served as the military headquarters during the War of Resistance Against the Japanese Aggression (1937-45) and the War of Liberation (1945-49).  

Xibaipo, Hebei Province

> This small village, about 80 km northwest of Shijiazhuang, the capital city of Hebei Province, was the last rural base of the CPC and its troops before they entered Beijing in 1949. The Xibaipo Museum's reported tourism has grown 65 percent annually. Xibaipo now has more than 60 hotels, which are renovated farmhouses, to cater for the boom.