Actors recreate the scenes of the Red Army's Long March in Loushanguan in Zunyi, Southwest China's Guizhou Province on April 20. Loushanguan is actively promoting its red tourism for tourists to trace revolutionary relics and better experience the red culture. Photo: Xinhua

"Red tourism," which refers to visiting historical sites with a modern revolutionary legacy, is gaining growing popularity among Chinese people - especially young ones, China's National Cultural Heritage Administration said on Wednesday.

People aged under 40 accounted for 89.1 percent of all the red tourism visitors during this year's May Day holidays, according to statistics from Chinese online travel platform Ly.com. More than 40 percent were aged between 21 and 30, the data showed.

Red tourism sites across China had more than 1.4 billion visits and jointly created more than 400 billion ($62.2 billion) yuan of revenue in 2019, the administration said at a press conference on Wednesday.

Young people have become the main visitors group to red tourism sites, with their increasing love and recognition for the country and its ruling Communist Party of China (CPC), some scholars said.

"This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC. In a strong 'red atmosphere,' many young people naturally want to learn more about [China and the Party's] struggles and achievements," Zhang Lingyun, a professor of tourism development at Beijing International Studies University, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Liu Jiayu, a 30-something who recently visited the National Anthem Exhibition Hall in Shanghai, said that she was very impressed by the videos played at the venue, which showed Chinese people singing the national anthem at various occasions - from the evacuation of Chinese nationals from Libya in 2011, to the fight against COVID-19 in Wuhan last year.

"I was so touched; so proud of and grateful for being Chinese," Liu said to the Global Times.

The Zunyi Conference memorial hall in Southwest China's Guizhou Province is one of the most popular red tourism sites, attracting more than 210,000 visitors during the holidays, "a significant growth compared with ordinary days," said a staffer with the hall.

"On each day [during the May Day vacation], the number of visitors surpassed or approached the hall's maximum bearing capacity of 56,000," he told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Although he didn't provide an exact number, the staffer said a large portion of the hall's visitors were children and young people "from kindergarten kids to college students" who learn about the revolutionary history of China and the CPC through the visits.

The hall has arranged interactive events to better serve its visitors, particularly young ones, such as guiding them to read the admission oath of the Party, the staffer said.