More than 400 million people in China have taken “red tourism” holidays in the last three years, according to a state-run newspaper.A Reuters report quoting The People’s Daily said the Chinese government has been promoting travel to places connected with the rise of Communist China as a way of instilling patriotism and loyalty to the Communist Party. It is also part of a scheme to boost incomes in the mainly remote and rural areas where these sites are located. The report said the campaign has been successful. Some RMB100 billion (US$13.54 billion) has been generated so far, a target meant for the year 2010.The report said almost two million people depend on this sector, directly or indirectly. Popular destinations include Chairman Mao Zedong’s hometown in the southern province of Hunan, and Yanan, where Mao and his cohorts lived in caves during the civil war’s dark days.
“Red tourism has had considerable economic benefits for old revolutionary areas,” the paper said.”It has become a catalyst for economic development in many of these places.”Beijing has also spent RMB2.15 billion supporting the project, renovating old buildings and memorials, and built more than 2,400 km of connecting roads, Reuters quoted the paper as saying.
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