Chinese President Xi Jinping is a staunch advocate of recognizing people from new social classes. (Photo : Getty Images)
To celebrate the heroism of the long march, President Xi Jinping went to Ningxia on Monday.
He visited the Red Army Shrine and hung a wreath to honor the heroes of the long march. Members of the Communist Party and the People's Liberation Army retreated at the shrine in Oct. 1936.
The visit, according to analysts, was a sign that Xi wanted to reinforce his roots with the Communist Party. His father, Xi Zhongxun, belonged to the Party's first generation of leaders. When President Xi assumed his position in 2012, he stated that he wanted to rejuvenate the lessons of Mao Zedong.
Zhang Lifan, a historian formerly with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said, "Xi has frequently used such visits to strengthen his position."
The historian was referring to Xi's position of asserting the principles of the Party and the lessons that it has left for the present Chinese generation.
"He has borrowed many of Mao's practices," Zhang said. The president asserted the practice of the "mass line," or a campaign that encouraged cadres of the Communist Party to remain close to the people.
Zhang observed that the visit is timely to the Party's summer summit. Important policies will be discussed at the seaside resort in Beidaihe in Hebei Province.
The president also mentioned the importance of having the "new long march." He called for a "Chinese renaissance" to attain the Party's two century goals.
"We, the new generation, should accomplish our new Long March," he said.
When the president went around Ningxia, he commented that historical sites should not be made into tourist attractions.
"They should be used for ideological education rather than tourism," he said.
