On the stone tablet, the four words "Ten Thousand Urgent Urgent" are particularly eye-catching. On November 8, in Lukoushao Village, Qixing Town, Xundian Hui and Yi Autonomous County, Kunming City, Yunnan Province, the mountain wind passed over the commemorative relief. The commentator Ruan Huifang told: "In the early morning of April 29, 1935, "About our Army's Speedy Crossing of the Jinsha River in Western Sichuan" "Instructions for the Establishment of the Soviet Area" was sent from here. This message marked "Urgent" directly pointed to the subsequent strategic operation of crossing the Jinsha River, which enabled the Red Army to escape the encirclement and interception of hundreds of thousands of enemy troops and achieve a decisive victory in the strategic shift. "
This year marks the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army’s Long March. History is no longer just words in textbooks, but has become traceable footprints under our feet. Groups of visitors come here not only to visit the red ruins that remain to this day, but also to experience the new industries and new lives that are constantly growing on this land.
In Dangui Village, Kedu Town, the first thing tourists should visit is the Red Army Long March Kedu Memorial Hall. On the evening of April 30, 1935, the Central Military Commission column entered Dangui Village. The He family compound was set up as the war room of the First Bureau of the General Staff Department of the Central Military Commission. Central leaders held a river-crossing meeting overnight to carefully finalize the battle plan for crossing the Jinsha River. Liu Bocheng was appointed as the advance commander-in-chief for crossing the river, and a cadre group was dispatched to attack Jiaopingdu at night.
Among the blue bricks and black tiles, red memories blend into ordinary fireworks. Walking into the Red Inn, the walls of the restaurant on the first floor are painted with paintings of the Red Army crossing the river, and old objects such as horse lanterns and old-fashioned gongs are quietly displayed. On the table, buckwheat rice, pumpkin soup, and braised potatoes bring out the local flavor.
"We rely on red resources to build a B&B, integrating Long March elements into the environment, and the dishes focus on local flavor." said operator Ma Han.
Ma Han, who had been working abroad for a long time, decided to return to his hometown to start a business and open a farmhouse because he cared about the elderly and children at home and saw the development of red tourism in his hometown. Today, the Red Inn is stably employing 2 to 3 villagers in the village, and can drive 7 to 10 people to work in a single day during the peak tourist season. In 2025, the per capita disposable income of villagers in Dangui Village will be approximately 24,000 yuan, and more than 200 people will increase their income by relying on tourism-related work.
Red resources bring popularity, while specialty industries broaden income-increasing channels. Walking into the pine nut distribution center in Dengjia Village, Yundian Town, the aroma of rosin mixed with the sound of machine operation hits your face. Threshing, screening, cleaning, baking, shelling, color sorting, packaging... individual pine nuts go through multiple processes before being packed and shipped to various places. In the past, the masses led pine buds to find markets, selling them in scattered pieces with large price fluctuations; now, standardized processing and distribution centers connect acquisition, processing, and sales.
"Pine nut raw materials from Zhaotong, Qujing, Dali, Sichuan, Guizhou and other places are gathered here, and more than 25,000 tons of pine buds are collected and distributed annually." Li Wenhua, deputy secretary of the Party Committee and mayor of Yuandian Town, said that after processing, the pine nuts are either sent to Meihekou in Jilin for distribution, or exported via Tianjin Port and Dalian Port. Open pine and other products are sold to Zhejiang, Gansu, Xi'an and other places. He summarized this change as transforming the "flow" of natural resources into the "retention" of industrial processing.
At present, the annual output of deeply processed products such as open pine and pine nuts in Yuandian Town exceeds 6,000 tons, and the total output value exceeds 200 million yuan. The pine nut industry employs more than 150 people stably all year round, and more than 300 people during the peak harvest season. The per capita income of the workers has increased by 20,000 to 30,000 yuan.
Arriving from the processing workshop to Beidaying Village, Hekou Town, another scene appeared before us. Cattle, sheep and camels are scattered among thousands of acres of alpine meadows. "What are the characteristics of a camel's eyes?" Zhu Xunrui, the person in charge of the camel riding, asked the children studying in the camel shed. One child replied: "I think its eyes are big." Zhu Xunrui introduced that the camel's eyes are large and protruding, making it easier to observe the surrounding environment. Experience projects such as camel riding, horseback riding, and travel photography also bring new ways to visit the grassland.
The project has gained popularity, attracted tourists, and created jobs at doorsteps. Zhu Xunrui said that the project currently has 14 permanent employees, all of whom are surrounding villagers; during peak passenger flow periods, nearly 20 local villagers will be hired. During this year’s National Day holiday, a total of 72 camels were put into operation at the pasture.
From the "urgent" telegram sent by Lu whistle to today's pine nuts coming out of the mountains, B&Bs welcoming guests, and camels walking on the meadows, the story of "Red Star Shining on China" has a new footnote in Xundian. 90 years ago, the Red Army was looking for a way out amid difficulties and obstacles; today, the local people, based on their resource endowments, have turned their hometown's mountains, forests, pastures and red culture into development advantages. This land, once illuminated by red memories, is writing the spirit of the Long March into the people's better and better days.
