Lanterns and spring couplets have begun to dot the streets of Ji'an in Jiangxi province as families prepare for the Lunar New Year. At the same time a different kind of seasonal campaign is under way: teams of red militia propagandists are moving through mountain towns, revolutionary sites and online platforms to retell the stories of Jinggangshan, the symbolic cradle of the communist revolution.
Dressed in camouflage, carrying “red lecture” satchels and clutching calligraphy brushes, the militia narrators stage tours at landmarks such as the “Zhu–Mao Meeting” square in Longshi town, sing revolutionary ballads in village squares, and host interactive livestreams from remote sites. One narrator rehearsed before dawn, then spent the day recounting the 1928 joining of forces between Mao Zedong and Zhu De — a foundational episode in the Party’s origin mythology — in the local dialect to visitors and returning migrants.
Performative methods vary to suit different audiences. A female militia member used mountain songs to draw tourists at a small village site and then transitioned into a historical briefing; a different team set up tables at the “Sanwan Reorganisation” plaza and wrote spring couplets for villagers, blending community service and commemorative ritual. Parents were observed bringing children to listen to songs and scenographic reenactments, treating the visit as both education and holiday entertainment.
Organisers are also exploiting digital channels. In villages distant from established revolutionary museums, narrators have taken to livestreaming and short-video platforms, incorporating interactive quizzes and displays of relics to sustain engagement. The hybrid approach — on-site dramatization, mobile outreach and cloud broadcasts — aims to reach both local residents and a wider online audience during a period of increased travel and family reunions.
The choice of Jinggangshan and surrounding Ji'an is intentional. Jinggangshan is a central touchstone in the Communist Party’s origin story, and the region has been cultivated as a key node of “red tourism” and patriotic education for decades. Mobilising militia units for cultural outreach ahead of a major national festival dovetails with longer-running efforts to cement revolutionary memory among younger generations while supporting local tourism revenue.
Beyond nostalgia, these activities reveal how the Party and local administrations meld symbolic politics, social services and economic stimulus. The militia teams are simultaneously delivering state-sanctioned historical narratives, offering practical services such as calligraphy and family-friendly programming, and encouraging travel to heritage sites that bolster regional incomes.
This mixture of ceremony, social outreach and digital amplification underscores a broader trend in China: the institutionalisation of revolutionary memory as a tool of civic education and local development. It also points to an evolving communication strategy that layers traditional performance with livestreaming to secure both the hearts of older rural residents and the attention of tech-savvy younger audiences.
Seen in the round, the red-militia campaign ahead of the Spring Festival is less an isolated publicity stunt than a calibrated effort to keep a specific version of history alive, to bind communities to the state’s narrative, and to sustain a local economy built in part on the pilgrimage to revolutionary sites.