A so-called "Red Tour" program is to be launched in Shaoshan City, hometown of late Chinese leader Mao Zedong, on July 31, with a goal of luring 1 million students from all over the country during the summer vacation.

The program is jointly sponsored by the National Administration of Tourism, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Youth League, and the provincial government of Hunan, according to Thursday's press conference held by the city authorities.

It has been organized to follow the instruction of Hu Jintao, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, and Li Changchun, member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau.

Students will enjoy preferential prices when they visit some memorial sites such as the old residence of Mao and Peng Dehuai, a general of the Chinese armed forces.

Shaoshan has been made one of the bases for patriotic education by the central authorities.

(People's Daily Online July 16, 2004)