Red tourists lead march to Xingxian

Developing a tourism trail

Many sites from Xingxian's past have the potential to become tourist resources. So, the county is planning to promote red tourism.

According to Tian Baoyu, director of Xingxian's culture and tourism bureau, the county started to promote red tourism in 2016.

"We have renovated some sites, like the Jinsui Revolutionary Memorial Hall, another memorial hall to commemorate the soldiers who died in an aviation accident in Xingxian on April 8, 1946, and the former site of the Jinsui headquarters, which we redeveloped into tourist attractions to promote red education."

Moreover, Xingxian has built a "red street" near the Jinsui Revolutionary Memorial Hall in Caijiaya village for local people to sell souvenirs to visitors. Another shopping street is also under construction.

"Some of our villagers have benefited from tourist development by selling local products to travelers," says 73-year-old Wen Eryou, a villager from Caijiaya.

"We are also building a training academy for government officials that will enable over 700 people to stay there and study, and we are also building a tourist center for visitors. These projects were launched this year and are due to be completed next year," says Tian.

Tian also says the management of tourist attractions has been outsourced to a professional marketing company based in Beijing.

Activities like red cultural festivals have also been held in Xingxian, with the aim of promoting its cultural tourism.

In 2018, the Jinsui Revolutionary Memorial Hall received over 320,000 visitors, highlighting an upward trend compared with 120,000 visitors in 2016 and 200,000 in 2017.