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'Red' Tours Retrace Steps of Long March

Tours to sites associated with the Long March, an epic journey undertaken by the Red Army in 1934-35, are being promoted in an effort to bring money to poor areas in China’s Sichuan province, one of the main regions that the march passed through.

During the Long March, the Red Army covered 7,500 kilometers in Sichuan, a trek which took one year and eight months. Many famous campaigns and important events during the legendary march took place here. Travelers can now follow in the revolutionaries' footsteps on a "Red" tour promoted by the local government. Travel agencies will also soon develop further tour itineraries. Available routes include the snow-capped mountains and grassy swamps the Red Army men and women tackled 70 years ago.

Sichuan boasts “the cradle of great men”. Travelers will have the chance to branch off from the Long March route to visit the old residence of Deng Xiaoping, the late chief architect of China’s reforms, and places associated with other prominent former leaders such as Zhu De, Nie Rongzhen and Liu Bocheng.

According to Gu Zhaoxi, vice-director of the National Tourism Administration, "Red" tours will be introduced to Hong Kong and Macau tourists in May, and to expatriates in the future.

Sichuan government strongly believes that tourism will provide a strong boost to the local economy. Some areas have already benefited from such promotions. Guang'an, the hometown of Deng Xiaoping, hosted 5.4 million visitors last year, an annual increase of 120 percent. Its tourism income reached 1.7 billion yuan (US$210 million), a 67 percent increase over 2003. The government predicts that the number of tourists visiting former revolutionary sites will increase by 18 percent between 2005 and 2010.