No tourist hordes yet

A Reuters report says it is remote, virtually surrounded by desert, and its only claim to fame is as a fleeting player in the founding of Communist China – but Ulanhot wants its slice of the multi-billion dollar “red tourism” pie.

Trouble is, for all the lovingly restored old buildings and spic new exhibitions, the masses just aren’t yet coming to this far-flung Inner Mongolian settlement, whose name literally means “red city” in Mongolian due to its Communist connections.

Ulanhot was where Chinese Communists founded the country’s first “autonomous” ethnic minority region in 1947, two years before winning the Chinese civil war and setting up the People’s Republic in Beijing.

The Inner Mongolian model laid the way for similar showcase regions in Tibet and the far-western, mainly Muslim region of Xinjiang. Minorities are supposed to be given a far greater say in running the show, though the reality is rather different.

Like Yanan, in whose caves Mao Zedong and his cohorts lived during the war’s dark days, and other revolutionary bases, Ulanhot is hoping to leverage its past to attract “red tourists”.

The central government hopes red tourism will achieve annual revenues of 100 billion yuan ($NZ18 billion) by 2010, and employ 2 million people, bringing much needed investment and jobs to parts of the country which have lagged the coastal boom.

Ulanhot, a two-hour flight northeast of Beijing, might have been a likely tourist destination during the recent October 1 National Day “golden week” break, particularly with the Communist Party preparing for its biggest meeting in five years.

Instead, it seemed to be the only place in China not swarming with tourists.

“The government really needs to do a lot more promotion,” complained resident Li Tingchun, standing next to an old piece of artillery in the vast but empty plaza of the newly opened Inner Mongolian People’s Liberation Memorial Hall.

“Few people know about Ulanhot, which is a shame as it’s a very historically significant place,” she added.

With the exception of the enormous, box-like memorial hall, Ulanhot’s other revolutionary addresses are mostly old buildings, mainly connected with Ulanhu, who founded the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and eventually became Chinese vice president.

A wax effigy of Ulanhu sits behind what is claimed to have been his desk at his former office. He is giving instructions to a soldier, also made out of wax.

“Actually, not many people come here,” said caretaker Wang Qingzhou. “Sometimes the top leaders come, but we’re all told to get out when that happens.”

And of course, the only history on display is that which has been carefully vetted and approved by the Party. Ulanhu’s suffering at the hands of radical Red Guards during the chaos of the Cultural Revolution gets no mention.

“There’s a lot of exaggerated talk about that.”  “Anyway, that stuff happened in the west, a long way from here.”  “There’s no need to mention it here,” said Zuo Shiling, 70, a retired worker from Ulanhot, visiting Ulanhu’s old office for the first time.

Other sites remain closed off, however, including the martyrs’ memorial park on the outskirts of town, and the beautiful, ochre, former government offices, now home to a police station and travel agency.

Yet red tourism is considered an important propaganda tool by the ruling Communists, who opened their key, five-yearly meeting in Beijing on Monday.

“There are abundant facts at these sites showing the Party and socialism are the choice of history and the people,” according to an unnamed government official recently quoted in state media.

To be sure, Ulanhot is probably too far away to ever be able to attract hordes of tourists, and will likely get no more than a handful of visitors – if any – from the influx of foreigners expected for next year’s Beijing Olympics.

The train to Beijing takes almost 24 hours, and there are only three flights a week from the capital to Ulanhot’s tiny, peach-hued airport, all on small regional jets.

But the city is trying, with a shiny new, 30-million-yuan four-star hotel and friendly museum staff happy to answer questions, though the sight of a foreigner on the street elicits pointing and even heckling.

“We had 10 visitors from Hong Kong here yesterday,” said a proud Lao Li, curator of the old Inner Mongolia Communist Party headquarters, just reopened as a rather bare museum.

The few tourists who had made it to Ulanhot over National Day seemed happy with their choice of holiday destination.

“We’re never done red tourism before,” said Li Cunyuan, who brought her two children from the nearby province of Jilin for a city break.

“There’s lots of history here.”  “And it’s nice it’s not too crowded,” she added.

A Report by The Mole