Engaging storytelling techniques help inspire a new generation to learn modern China's history
Cai Songxuan, a 23-year-old postgraduate student, didn't expect tears to flow as she watched a short video about military affairs in a panoramic theater in Beijing's Museum of the Communist Party of China.
But the presentation was too powerful, too real, to hold tears back. With images of aircraft dropping bombs from overhead, splashes of blood in a river and clouds of smoke rising from a burning forest, soldiers of the Red Army maintained order while crossing a floating bridge, carrying stretchers and supplies.
In another scene, a soldier tried to wake his dead comrade on a snowy mountain. Others were buried by an avalanche.
The theater itself was interactive, with snow and cold wind blowing into the room and tremors shaking the audience as the bombs exploded.
The history of the Long March was depicted on six huge screens that provided imagery from the ceiling above to the walls all around. The 3D effect, background music and lifelike sensation provided an immersive, thrilling experience.
"It was like traveling back in time. We can feel the pain and difficulty the Red Army experienced," Cai said, recalling a visit to the museum in July with her classmates. "I could not hold back my tears."
She had visited similar museums before but they all looked the same to her. But not this time.
"The innovation here gets rid of didactic historical education and invites us to learn and feel the stories of the Party and the spirit of past generations," she said. "I don't want to see museum posters alone. I want something I can be part of."
Like Cai, an increasing number of young Chinese have begun to mine the historical nuggets of Red tourism, which has been known in the past as a rather dreary, didactic pursuit, something for the middle-aged and elderly. Nowadays, more innovative methods have been introduced to stir the feelings of tech-savvy, curious youth.
Red tourism means traveling to sites that record major events of the CPC during revolutionary times, visiting museums and exhibitions and exploring the history of New China.
Visits to Red sites have grown significantly this year, which marks the 100th anniversary of the CPC. The number of visits last year was about 100 million, despite the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. It is expected to surpass 900 million by 2024, reaping revenues of more than 1 trillion yuan ($155 billion), 10 percent of the country's total tourism revenue, according to a report from the Tongcheng Research Institute.
Netizens' attention to Red tourism has grown by about 80 percent from the beginning of this year alone. And about 60 percent of customers buying Red tourism travel packages at Tongcheng-Elong, an online travel agency, range in age from 20 to 39. This indicated strong interest in the sector by younger adults, it said.
"Unlike their parents, the younger generation grew up with the rapid development of China's national power, which enables them to view the world confidently. With that cultural confidence, they show greater interest in Red history," said Cheng Chaogong, chief researcher at the institute. "They tend to favor in-depth experiences that tell real stories and help them think."
Wang Qi, a 23-year-old college student in Baoding, Hebei province, toured the Memorial Hall of the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, which she recalled as "most impressive and having a novel design".
In the museum, photos of many victims who had survived the massacre hang from the walls. Photos without lights signal that the person has died.
"You can feel anger over shining lives extinguished, as the victims still have not received the apology they deserve from the perpetrators," Wang said.
She said the museum also provided written records, sculptures and a movie to help tourists understand. "The narrative of events and the ways people suffered were clearly told, and it brought us to self-examination," she said.
"History is not dead; it is alive. The flowing memory needs to be recorded. But sightseeing is too weak. It would be great if activities that younger people like－such as stage performances, room escapes and role-playing－could be added so that we can feel the history more deeply."
More sites are using digital tools to impress tourists with immersive experiences. At the "Red Building"－once the main campus of Peking University, the base of the New Culture Movement and a cradle of the May 4th Movement, which was a key to the early spread of Marxism in China－tourists can browse the original versions of New Youth, an important magazine that introduced Communist ideas using a touch screen.
At the Memorial of the Site of the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China in Shanghai, holographic projections are used to show how the Party's founders were evacuated by the back door of the meeting room to evade discovery.
On Red Street in Yan'an, Shaanxi province, workers dressed as postmen hand out an old-style newspaper to tourists. (Actually, it's a guidebook for touring the street.)
At Jinggangshan, Jiangxi province, a group of tourists with shoulder poles learned of the difficulties the Red Army had in climbing a mountain with food during wartime. In Xinxian county, Henan province, tourists listened to a guide's introduction while sitting on short benches in a small stone house－Lenin primary school－where rural residents once learned about Marxism.
The trend toward digital media, immersion and interaction have become popular with the younger adults who are becoming the core customers of Red tourism, said Wang Jinwei, associate professor at the School of Tourism Sciences of Beijing International Studies University.
"Red tourism plays an important role in enhancing national identity and confidence. It also helps promote economic growth and employment at the revolutionary sites. Using high technology and developing creative cultural products, all of which are loved by younger tourists, boost high-quality development," he said.
He added that over-commercialization and excessive entertainment should be avoided.
Travel platform Ctrip said bookings for Red tourism attractions grew more than 200 percent year-on-year in the first half of this year. Seventy percent of the tourists were born in the 1980s and 1990s.
As patriotism spreads, the participation of younger adults has increased. Bookings made by clients born after 2000 grew 2.5 times from January to June compared with the same period in 2019, Ctrip said.
A Beijing college student surnamed Chen, 24, brought his younger brother to the Memorial of the Site of the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China in Shanghai during the past summer.
He noted how his brother was inspired.
"I hope the experience of being on the spot will help him understand what life was like for our forebears and encourage him to strive for a better life," Chen said.
He added that his Red tour to Yan'an included an impressive opera and other stage performances. "It's much better than mere sightseeing," he said.
Han Bing, chief researcher of culture and entertainment at consultancy Roland Berger, said Red tourism sites have developed alongside a booming sector of Red films and television. Combining tech tools, such as mini-programs, mobile games, virtual reality and augmented reality, adds ways to marketing among young tourists, she said.
"Innovation brings new choices and experiences. It attracts a broader range of customers, which enhances education."
Feng Xiaojie contributed to this story.
chenmeiling@chinadaily.com.cn
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