Tourism in Jinggangshan, an old revolutionary base in the countryside, is expected to become an investment hot spot, given the increasing number of tourists in recent years, according to a senior local official.

Statistics show that during the January-June period this year, more than 300,000 people have visited the city due to its revolutionary background. It is estimated that the number will jump to around one million for the year. An ambitious local government has planned to attract 4 million tourists annually by 2005.

Jinggangshan, located in the middle section of the Luoxiao Mountains in the southwest part of Jiangxi Province, was the first revolutionary base established in the countryside by the first generation of Chinese Communist Party leaders like Mao Zedong and Zhu De.

The number of tourists here has kept increasing at an annual rate of 20 percent in recent years, and the figure even reached a peak of 40 percent in the first half of the year, local statistics indicate.

It is reported that investors from Hong Kong, Macau, Beijing, Shanghai and many other regions have shown interest in some tourism projects that are undergoing the investment bidding process and some of them have signed investment intention agreements with the local government.

Jinggangshan was one of China's first group of demonstration bases for patriotism education. It has over 100 well-preserved revolutionary sites and abundant natural scenic spots, making Jinggangshan a special tourist attraction, according to Liu Xianqing, who is in charge of local tourism.

China has experienced "tourism fever" in recent years as people's incomes have continued to grow and they have enjoyed longer vacations than before. These factors will combine with the local government's policies of promoting tourism development and the convenient communication facilities to draw more attention from investors both at home and abroad, Liu said.

(Eastday.com.cn 06/24/2001)