Where Youth Meets History: Foreign and Chinese Youths Trace the Long March Legacy in Ganzhou

On the thin, misty morning of November 26, along the Yudu River in Ganzhou, a group of Chinese and foreign post-90s youths set out on a journey to explore their cultural roots.

At the Memorial Park marking the starting point of the Central Red Army's Long March, the stone steps of the East Gate Ferry and the towering monument spoke silently of 1934’s solemn sacrifices. Zeng Ying, daughter of Zeng Yongya, a founding general of the People's Republic of China, shared memories of her father's generation: "My 17-year-old father and his comrades bid a hasty farewell. He left with 34 fellow villagers, none of whom ever returned."

This profound loss motivated her to launch the "Loyal Souls Return Home" initiative, collecting sacred soil from 39 sites along the Long March route to allow the spirit of the heroes to live on. Zuo Mingyu, an international youth participant, was moved by the exceptional discipline and resilience the journey embodied.

Foreign youths visit the Memorial Hall at the Starting Point of the Central Red Army's Long March

In Zishan Town's Tantou Village, modern greenhouses for selenium-rich vegetables stand in harmony with traditional white-walled, black-tiled houses. Leveraging its unique selenium-rich soil and red tourism heritage, the village has developed educational tourism and homestays. Since 2019, it has hosted over 3 million tourists. The village's collective income saw a dramatic surge, from 80,000 yuan in 2018 to over 3 million yuan in 2024, with the average household income rising by more than 10,000 yuan annually – a true transformation where "red soil" now yields "golden harvests."

Selenium-rich vegetable greenhouses

In Qilushan Town, the historic Long March Path winds through vast forests. By blending its "Red history + Ancient villages + Green ecology", the area integrates its millennia-old ancient village charm with a 90% forest coverage rate to create composite tourism products. It now attracts 300,000 annual visitors, with collective revenues reaching 4.6485 million yuan. A post-90s photographer remarked that trekking the muddy trail provided a deeply immersive historical experience.

Post-90s youths retrace the Red Army's Long March trail

Throughout this journey, the Chinese and foreign youths documented a powerful "dialogue across the generations," capturing how the sparks of revolution ignited ninety years ago continue to light the way forward on the nation's New Long March toward modernization. (By Wang Jie)