Hejia Village in Dabie Mountains keeps ‘red classrooms’ alive with oral histories of Long March
行进中国｜扎根大别山的“红色讲堂”
In Hejiachong, Henan province, villagers led by He Guiying tell stories of the 25th Red Army’s 1934 Long March departure to visiting tourists and descendants. The village has become an open-air ‘red classroom’ with thousands of visitors in the first half of 2026, part of a broader effort by local authorities to preserve revolutionary heritage, according to this People’s Daily Online report distributed on NetEase.
The view from inside
报道将何家冲个人化的口述历史视为‘红色讲堂’（红色讲堂）的鲜活载体，突出老党员、红军后代的自觉参与和情感共鸣，呼应信阳‘大力推动红色资源保护和传承’的政策框架。‘长征精神’（长征精神）被呈现为代际传承的纽带，游客的感动与寻根行为被视作红色教育成效的自然证据。目标读者是广大网民，强化革命历史教育的自发性和群众性，隐含意识形态合法性建构。
What an outside reader should notice
The article does not mention any critical perspectives on the Red Army’s actions or the complex civil-war context. It treats the oral histories as authentic and unmediated, without probing possible selective memory or official guidance in storytelling.
Key points
- Hejiachong village was the departure point of the 25th Red Army on the Long March in 1934.
- Villager He Guiying, a descendant of a woman who rescued Red Army soldiers, gives oral history talks at former army sites.
- The village received 'hundreds of thousands' of tourist visits in the first half of 2026.
- Local authorities in Xinyang actively promote red-resource preservation and encourage participation of old Party members and army descendants.
- The report is part of People’s Daily Online’s 2026 ‘Traveling through China’ media series.
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