Revolutionary Legacy Brings Economic Benefits to Local Residents in Jinggang Mountain

Anchor: Jinggangshan, a small mountainous county in central China's Jiangxi province, is a famous revolutionary base where Chairman Mao Zedong led the Red Army to fight against enemies some 80 years ago.

Poverty once dominated the small county. But now as China prepares to celebrate its 60th anniversary in October, local residents have begun to enjoy wealth and prosperity thanks to a booming tourist industry.

Let's follow our reporter Xu Weiyi to take a closer look.

With towering hills as the backdrop, a line of automobiles run smoothly along the winding Tai-Jing highway in Jinggangshan.

For Wu Jianzhong, a resident of the county's Changpu village, the tourist highway has meant a wealthier life. He started a restaurant business in 2006, one year after the highway was completed.

"My business has been flourishing these years. During the busy tourism season, I can receive more than 100 guests for meals in my house. I am very optimistic that I can make a profit of more than 300,000 yuan this year."

In 2003, local governments started building the Tai-Jing highway to better link Jinggangshan to other parts of the country.

Since then, millions of tourists have flooded to the area as pilgrims to pay tribute to the former revolutionary base.

Together with the newly built highway, this revolutionary legacy started bringing tourists and prosperity to this once impoverished county.

Many local residents like Wu Jianzhong have made good use of this advantage to fatten their wallets.

Zhang Ying, a middle-aged native resident, has operated a 13-hectare vineyard along the highway to develop agricultural tourism since last year.

"Jinggangshan has long been a scenic spot. Now I want to create another attraction for tourists with my vineyard. You know, I can receive one thousand tourists each day on average. I allow them to pull off grapes in my vineyard by themselves. In this way, tourists can experience the atmosphere and joy of authentic rural life."

With the influx of tourists, Zhang Ying says he expects to make a yearly profit of one million yuan, or about 150,000 U.S. dollars, in the near future.

His fellow residents are also enjoying the economic benefits brought by tourism.

Wang Jumei is one of the 80 employees working at the roadside vineyard.

"I can earn more than 1,000 yuan a month at this vineyard. In the past, I planted rice on my paddy field, which earned me much less than working here."

Thanks to the tourism industry, local rural residents enjoyed a per capita income of more than 4,000 yuan last year, according to official statistics. The figure was double the amount of five years ago, when the tourist highway had just been completed.

The mountainous county received nearly four million tourists in 2008, bringing about three billion yuan for the local government and its residents.

Xu Weiyi, CRI news.