Immersive performances beside the Red Well in Ruijin, Jiangxi, enrich the visitor experience; red tourism routes in Shiqi Town, Qijiang, Chongqing, help boost local incomes; and diverse research and study activities in Huining, Gansu, bring red education beyond the classroom. Old revolutionary base areas are leveraging their abundant red tourism resources by integrating and innovating diverse products to drive high-quality local development.
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In Ruijin, Jiangxi, an immersive performance unfolds beside the Red Well in Shazhouba Town. The actors, with focused expressions and agile movements, recreate scenes of Soviet area residents mending clothes and raising military rations overnight. "We brought our daughter from Guangdong to Ruijin and never expected to not only visit historical sites and listen to explanations but also watch a performance up close," said tourist Zhong Zhijun. On holidays, the Red Well Revolutionary Site cluster in Shazhouba Town, Ruijin, attracts large crowds. Previously, visitors primarily came to see a well, take a photo, and hear a story, resulting in short visits and a relatively simple experience. To make red history more appealing, especially to younger generations and families, the local cultural tourism team introduced immersive performances. Actors guide the audience to the former Lenin Primary School, where one performer, previously portraying a support villager, dons a coarse gown to become an "instructor," transforming the tourists into students of the era. "When the instructor called on me to answer a question, I felt like I was truly in class; it was very engaging," said Liu Ruiming, a tourist from Guangzhou. After the classroom segment, actors and tourists jump rope and play shuttlecock kicking under a large camphor tree. A "Soviet messenger" leads a poetry recitation: "Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet—who wields the rainbow ribbon dancing in the sky..." Visitors join in, their voices growing louder and more unified. Classic song-and-dance performances like "Battlefield Smoke" and "Army and People as One Family" follow, with frequent interaction between performers and guests. The immersive red cultural tourism creates interactive situational dramas within authentic site settings, recreating historical scenes. Visitors can participate in activities like weaving straw sandals, tasting Red Army meals, and learning revolutionary songs, shifting from "bystanders" to "participants," fostering a spiritual connection within the restored historical context. "Since launching these immersive performances, the average visitor stay has nearly doubled," noted performance team leader Song Xianzong. Data from the Ruijin Cradle of the Republic scenic area shows that in the first half of 2026, it received 4.8296 million visitors, a 25% year-on-year increase. "We will continue to innovate and create new products, using immersive experiences to inject lasting vitality into Ruijin's red cultural tourism development," said Yang Cheng, an operations officer at the Ruijin Cultural Tourism Development Group.
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Following an overnight rain, 500 mu (about 33.3 hectares) of ecological bayberry orchards in Liyuan Village, Shiqi Town, Qijiang District, Chongqing, are laden with fruit, their sweet-sour aroma carried on the breeze. Li Shi, a tourist from Chongqing's Liangjiang New Area, strolls through the orchard with his child, picking fresh fruit. "One day visiting red historical sites, another day enjoying the rural landscape—my child learned about history through travel. It was both interesting and meaningful," Li said, noting he brought his son specifically to trace the Long March's footsteps. Chen Xiaosheng, the town's People's Congress chair, explained that Shiqi was a station for the main force of the Central Red Army in Chongqing. In recent years, the town has restored several red historical sites and relics, displaying over 100 historical photos, martyr relics, and letters, transforming revolutionary history into a living classroom. The town upgraded its visitor center, built an 8-kilometer Red Army trail, the Shiqi 1935 "Red Soul Garden," and other Red Army camping relics. The Long March route now connects specialty fruit and vegetable parks for tomatoes, yellow peaches, and bayberries, creating a "red culture + rural tourism" development model that broadens income channels. Villager Wang Yuqiang, formerly a coal miner, switched to running a farmhouse inn after the mine closed, capitalizing on the tourism boom. "In peak season, rooms are often fully booked, generating nearly 300,000 yuan in annual revenue," he said. Huang Laxiu's small restaurant is also thriving, with stable annual income around 200,000 yuan. "Last year, I renovated the restaurant to improve the dining environment and attract more tourists," she noted. "With the restaurant doing well, I can sell all the vegetables I grow behind my house. This year, I planted bok choy, green onions, and peppers, delivering them directly," added villager Li Shangxian. In 2025, Shiqi Town received over 120,000 visitors, with each village developing unique industries based on red resources. Wanlong Village focuses on mountain summer retreats, Xiangshui Village promotes "Xiangsanlong Ecological Rice," Liyuan Village cultivates ecological bayberry orchards, and Gaoshan Village specializes in late-ripening yellow peaches. "The town has 5,000 mu of high-quality mountain sweet corn, yielding 3,000 tons annually with an output value of nearly 9 million yuan; 9,500 mu of rapeseed, producing 1,400 tons of seeds; 500 mu each of premium fruits like yellow peaches and bayberries; nearly 10,000 mu of wild square bamboo shoots; and 115 mu of mountain tea gardens," introduced town Party secretary Sun Zhenying. "We are leveraging our red resources to pursue an integrated development path combining agriculture, culture, sports, tourism, and commerce," Sun said, adding that Shiqi is actively connecting green wellness projects with red tourism to continually diversify its offerings.
Practical Research and Study Tours in Huining, Gansu, Deepen Understanding
At the Red Army Long March Victory Scenic Area in Huining County, Gansu Province, Wei Jiaheng, a student from the High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China, is retracing the Long March with classmates. "Previously, my understanding of the Long March came from numbers and images in history books. After walking along winding mountain paths and crossing iron chain bridges, I now truly grasp its difficulty," he said. On October 9, 1936, the First and Fourth Front Armies of the Red Army joined forces in Huining. Today, this city rich in revolutionary memory is leveraging its red cultural tourism resources to drive high-quality development. Zhao Liang, a Chinese language teacher from Huichuan Middle School in Weiyuan County, Dingxi, Gansu, brought students to Huining for the first time. "Standing beneath the Huishi Tower fills me with reverence. I will incorporate the red stories from here into my teaching to pass on the Long March spirit," he said. When a guide recounted the martyrs' stories, Duan Ying, a student from Renmin University of China, teared up. "Setting foot in Huining, I feel a profound sense of the sacrifice and faith this land carries," she said. The journey begins at the Huining Red Service Area off the G22 Qinglan Expressway, with visits to the Red Army Huishi Site, the Manniu Slope memorial, and hands-on experiences at the Long March Victory Scenic Area and Red Army Village. "During holidays, which are peak season for red tourism, our entire guide team is on duty. We aim to pass on the red heritage and revolutionary spirit with passion and expertise," said Wang Lequn, a guide from the Women's Guide Team at the Red Army Huining Huishi Site Management Committee. Huining has meticulously developed specialized research and study courses, including "One Ten-Thousandth: Toward the Extraordinary" and "Retrace the Long March: Forge a Strong Will to Serve the Nation," building an educational model of "on-site experience + live teaching + spiritual enlightenment." Statistics show that in the first half of the year, Huining County received 4.7378 million visitors, a 9.64% year-on-year increase, generating 3.756 billion yuan in tourism spending, up 21.6%, and hosting over 200 research and study groups from primary, secondary, and university students.
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