Historical tourism lures more young sightseers

A volley of gunshots split the air as a young Chinese Red Army soldier in a ragged uniform swiftly pulled out his gun, aimed and squeezed the trigger without hesitation at Japanese troops that were brutally stabbing innocent villagers.

Though facing a well-equipped force all by himself, the crack shot didn't flinch, he just kept moving and shooting. The scene, visually stunning and intended to set the heart pounding, is not a scene from an action movie.

The engagement is re-enacted daily, drawing many young tourists to learn about the history of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45) and the World Anti-Fascist War. It is performed in Wuxiang county, Shanxi province, which was a major battleground during the war.

Quite a few tourism sites like Wuxiang have been using different forms of art and communication to bring history back to life, attracting more young people who have found the subjects intriguing and informative, as well as patriotically stirring.

China has 33,315 such historical sites and relics on record, and more than 800 million tourist visits to them are made every year on average, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism said.

Zhao Tianze, 22, a college student in Shanxi, visited Wuxiang with several friends during the summer vacation and took part in a laser-tag game that allowed them to dress as soldiers and engage in a 60-minute scenario complete with imitation rifles to battle the "Japanese army".

"Because we were all born in the 1990s, we are far removed from this period of history," he said. "By traveling to old revolutionary sites and taking part in interesting activities like these, we can experience the spirit of those old revolutionaries."

Travel invokes nostalgia

Travel to historic sites has long been preferred by senior citizens since it invokes nostalgia for their youth, when they grew up watching patriotic films and singing revolutionary songs, said Gu Changfeng, manager of online travel agency Qunar's Fuxing Road branch in Beijing.

"It gradually gained great popularity among the younger generation with more creative cultural products of revolutionary relics over the past year," he said, adding that people now can enjoy more interactive experiences at various historic sites, including laser-tag games and virtual reality headsets.

Hongyan Revolutionary History Museum in Chongqing uses augmented reality and virtual reality technology to present 3D reproductions of the Bombing of Chongqing by Japanese warplanes. The city, then China's provisional capital, and nearby cities were indiscriminately bombed over 250 times between 1938 and 1944, killing and injuring more than 32,000 people.

Zhu Jun, Party secretary of the museum's management center, said they have been scaling up efforts to make their display more creative and interactive, turning history into a vivid story young people are more interested in and can more easily relate to.

The Hongyan museum, which had been the seat of the southern bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the Eighth Route Army Office in the city, recorded 11.5 million visits last year, second only to the Palace Museum in Beijing in visitor volume, according to National Cultural Heritage Administration.

"With many activities allowing the tourists take part, it will help them to learn Chinese revolutionary history and intensify the collective feelings of patriotism and the spirit of resisting aggression," said Wu Ruoshan, a researcher at the tourism research center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Since many of the spots are scenic and located in poor and little-known regions, the growing flow of tourists will help boost regional economic growth, he added.