Young Chinese ardently support the CPC out of understanding of its role to nation

Red popularity

Patriotic films, dramas, animations, and related cultural activities are gaining popularity among young Chinese, who are willing to know the development history of their motherland and its ruling party.

Lin Chao, whose Year Hare Affair is one of the most popular patriotic animations in China, said Chinese youths embrace patriotic themes because they “feel proud of today’s China.”

Year Hare Affair tells parts of the history of modern China, the CPC, and the People’s Liberation Army in a vivid and compelling way. The anime depicts China as “rabbit” and other countries as other animals such as “hawk,” “rooster” and “ox,” presenting serious military and diplomatic issues in a riveting way. Watching Year Hare Affair is one of the main leisure activities at Wei’s CPC history study club. “The story is not complicated, and the buzzwords that appear from time to time make us laugh,” Wei said. “But when I see the prototypes of the

story presented at the end of the animation, the real historical photos, I can’t help but shed a tear.” Year Hare Affair’s audience, including Wei and her peers, are mainly teenagers and college students in their 20’ s, according to Lin. This group is a microcosm of China’s young generation that is witnessing the country’s growth in strength, Lin said.

“Unlike some from the preceding generation who worship all things foreign, today’s Chinese youth have more opportunities to study or travel abroad to see in person exactly what the outside world looks like, and when they do so, they can see that developed Western countries are far from perfect; they all have their own problems,” Lin told the Global Times. Market data shows that Chinese youngsters are simultaneously welcoming patriotic- themed artworks and products. One of China’s largest travel agencies, Ctrip, said that more than half of its clients who participated in red tourism in 2020 were born after the 1980s.

Lin’s Year Hare Affair has gotten more than 800 million views on many main domestic video sites as of 2020, according to statistics provided by his assistant to the Global Times.

Photo: Courtesy of Lin Chao A rabbit figure representing China in patriotic animation Year Hare Affair.

Photo: IC A pair of parrots plays and kisses on a tree branch in Nanjing, East China’s Jiangsu Province, attracting many passersby to take photos of the adorable “lovers.”