The spirit of the Long March is passed down from generation to generation in Kedu, Yunnan: the symphony of red history and rural revitalization

At the entrance of Dangui Village, Kedu Town, Xundian Hui and Yi Autonomous County, Yunnan Province, the smell of food wafted from a three-story building. The boss, Yang Binxiu, had just seen off a group of study group guests and then turned around to talk about the Long March that happened more than 90 years ago. He is the operator of the local red-themed hotel and a volunteer guide in the town. "When I open this store, I want to make a living, and I also want customers from all over the world to sit down, drink a bowl of water, and listen to a story."

Recently, on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Long March, the North China Electric Power University's "Red Heart E March·Renewal of the Long March" practice group participated in the "Youth Chapter·New Mountains and Rivers on the Long March" college students' ideological and political practice activities. They followed the red footsteps into Kedu, looked back on the glorious past of the Long March, and experienced firsthand the new look of the old district's vigorous development.

On April 30, 1935, the Central Red Army's Long March passed through Kedu. Central leaders such as Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Zhu De and other central leaders stationed in Dangui Village. They held a meeting of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission overnight to finalize the strategic deployment of cleverly crossing the Jinsha River, laying a key foundation for the Red Army to escape the enemy's siege and break out northward. This period of history has been told by Yang Binxiu since he was a child.

According to Yang Binxiu, there is a mosque in Huihui Village, less than 2 kilometers away from Dangui Village. At that time, the temple was relatively spacious, and the Red Army cooking team would light a fire here to cook. A young Red Army soldier mistakenly brought non-halal food confiscated by "anti-tycoons" into the mosque. After Commander-in-Chief Zhu De learned about it, he immediately put down his work and personally took the young soldier to the mosque to apologize and explain the party's ethnic policy.

Later, Zhu De asked the propagandist to write a slogan on the temple wall - "The Red Army will absolutely protect the interests of the workers and peasants who have returned home." "Go home" is the local name for the Hui people, which means that the Red Army resolutely protects the interests of the Hui people. The Hui people in Kedu Town were deeply moved and sent food, clothes and straw sandals to support the Red Army.

In order to protect this slogan, the then leader, Imam Jin Guangming, took the risk of beheading all the villagers, cut down bundles of firewood and stacked them tightly along the wall, completely covering the entire slogan. The Kuomintang troops entered the village many times to search and forcibly eradicate slogans, but the villagers evaded them time and again by using stacks of firewood to cover them.

After the Red Army left, the Jin family passed down the rules of guarding the slogan. After the grandfather guarded the father, the father guarded the children, and four generations took over to guard it. It was not until the 1980s that this slogan, which had been hidden for half a century, was made public again.

Now, 91 years later, although the handwriting has been slightly mottled, it is still intact on the earthen wall of the Huihui Village Mosque, becoming a red mark carved by the years and witnessing the deep friendship of the nation's unity and mutual help.

"My grandfather said that the Red Army's discipline and respect for national customs really impressed the villagers." Yang Binxiu said slowly. During the days when the Red Army was in Kedu, the villagers sent food and vegetables, Hui aunts worked overnight to make straw sandals, and villagers who were familiar with the mountain roads took the initiative to act as guides, leading the Red Army on small roads to avoid enemy defense lines.

Before the Red Army left, more than 10 young people formed a "Hui class" with Bi Fadou as the squad leader and followed the army on the Long March. After a bloody battle along the way, only Bi Fadou survived and returned home. In the years that followed, he always volunteered to tell the story of the Red Army at memorial halls and schools, hoping to sow the flames of the Long March in the hearts of future generations.

More than ninety years have passed, and this eventful period has always nourished the children of Kedu. In recent years, Kedu Town has deeply explored red resources and created a group of red landmarks with the Red Army Long March Kedu Memorial Hall and the former site of the Central Red Army Headquarters in Dangui Village as its core. It has also launched immersive research projects such as retracing the Long March Road and publicizing red stories. In 2025, the Red Army Long March Kedu Memorial Hall will receive more than 300,000 tourists throughout the year and achieve a comprehensive tourism income of more than 12 million yuan.

Taking advantage of the momentum of red tourism, Yang Binxiu rebuilt the hotel and added a new conference room for the research team to study and exchange. The old photos of the Long March on the wall of the store were collected by him from the homes of the elderly in the village over five or six years. Now, his hotel has become the designated reception point for studying in the town, and the business is becoming more and more prosperous.

"Business has been getting better year by year in the past few years. During holidays, private rooms must be booked in advance, and study groups come one after another. In the past, young people in the village ran away, but now many people are eating 'tourist food' at home. As time goes by, they are more motivated." Yang Binxiu said, pointing to the tourists lining up at the door.

Among the fireworks in the city, there are revolutionary memories that will never fade, and the spirit of the Long March continues. From the Red Army propagandists who wrote slogans, to the Hui soldiers who rushed to the battlefield, from Bi Fadou who spent his life preaching red stories, to Boss Yang who is now guarding the restaurant and telling red stories, generations of Kedu people have used their own ways to protect their original aspirations. Persistence in ordinary positions allows the spirit of the Long March to be passed down from generation to generation and shine brightly.