Students should study red tourism, says NPC deputy

A National People’s Congress deputy has proposed the government make red tourism a part of primary, middle and high school education.

Tuo Qinhui, a deputy from Mao Zedong’s home province of Hunan in Central China, urged authorities to make students visit historical sites related to the history of Communist Party.

Tuo suggested that special camps or hostels should be made available at a relatively low cost to ensure the safety of touring students.

To help alleviate the financial pressure in building such camps, Tuo recommended State funds or preferential tax policies.

Tuo listed 11 locations including Shaoshan in Hunan Province, Yan’an in Shaanxi Province and Zunyi in Guizhou Province, as key sites of red tourism and suggested provincial governments build camps within 20 kilometers of the sites.

Shaoshan is the hometown of Mao Zedong, who rose to lead the Communist Party of China after a meeting in Zunyi in 1935. Yan’an was the final official destination of the Long March, which leaders of the Party and the Red Army used as a base during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1931-45).

China has 428 sites listed as national patriotic education bases as of 2017, covering all major historic events from the establishment of the Communist Party of China to the victory in the war against the Kuomintang government, the Xinhua News Agency reported in March 2017.