Red tourism is a thing in China, especially visiting revolutionary sites — Yan’an’s 400+ sites (which have been ranked); Shanghai’s revolutionary heritage, and; Beijing’s Red Trail. These pilgrimages tend to be excruciatingly pedagogical, but also fun because they usually mean a day off work or school to hang with friends and eat snacks. The ideological point of these tours lies in how before and after experiences structure moral sentiment. The meaning of these tours are more complicated that Mao was there and so was I! Instead, the expected experience includes visceral gratitude: When the elders 前辈 were here, life was hard. I am here, enjoying this (implied easier and better) life because they suffered.

So what does red tourism in Shenzhen look like? It means exploring the sites that Deng Xiaoping visited in 1984 and especially in 1992. And yes, this is more or less the same trek that Xi Jinping made in 2012 during his first tour outside Beijing after becoming General Secretary. Let’s make the trip!