Twenty local sites related to the history of the Communist Party of China were the first to be granted the title "Shanghai Red Tourism Key Site," the Shanghai Tourism Administrative Committee announced over the weekend.

Five red tourist zones including 40 red tourist sites will be established in the city, the committee said.

Red tourism refers to sites related to the development of the Communist Party and China's liberation in 1949.

More than 600 people, half from nearby Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, visited the site of the Communist Party of China's first national conference, one of the 20 key sites, on Saturday, as the country calls on more people to visit and learn from the historic sites.

Dao shuming, vice director of the local tourism board, said developing local red tourism is a process of connecting the past to the future.

"Visiting the red tourist sites is not only a kind of remembrance to those who bled and sacrificed for our country, but also an incentive to improve team spirit, as well as larger enthusiasm toward life and work," he said. "Some of our young people have forgotten the importance of these merits for a period."

He said the local red tourist sites could be very attractive, especially to young people and foreigners, if they are introduced together with the city's natural landscapes and other architectures.

Starting this month, local travel agencies will offer some new routes for touring around the red tourist sites across the city.

(Shanghai Daily April 11, 2005)