St. Petersburg Experiences Chinese Tourist Boom on Centennial of Communist Revolution
Chinese tourists are coming to Saint Petersburg for the centennial of the October Revolution. The city is even thinking of getting more tour buses for the guests from the Celestial Empire. What's with all this interest? Zinaida Kurbatova has visited memorable sites together with foreign guests.
The Red Route is the most popular one among Chinese tourists. They are flowing into Saint Petersburg for the centennial of the October Revolution which is celebrated both in Russia and in China. For the Chinese over 50, such an excursion is nostalgic. As schoolchildren, they used to read stories about Lenin and watch classical Soviet movies, like Lenin in October.
Nowadays, more and more young guests from China show interest in the revolution. On the bus, they sing both The Internationale and Chinese songs. Young people learned about the Soviet Union, China's big brother, from their grandparents. From a distance, the Soviet history looks festive, and Soviet leaders are like romantic heroes.
Imin Chen, Student from China: "I really like the Soviet Union, Lenin, Stalin, Khrushchev, Brezhnev, Gorbachev, all the Soviet leaders I know".
The tourists don't hear about various theories and scientific research. Did the Aurora cruiser fire a blank shot or a real one? That's beside the point. What matters is that it signaled the start of the assault on the Winter Palace and a new era in the history of mankind.
Polina Rysakova, Tour Guide, "This year is the 100th anniversary of the October Revolution, which is also celebrated in China, but China emphasizes the importance of this historic event in the following development of both the Soviet Union and China. And in China, the revolution is first of all a historic event that outlined a new model of social development, which is being implemented today".
Hiding from the tsarist guards, Ulyanov-Lenin lived on Serdobolsakaya Street. From here, he went to the Smolny on the memorable night on 25 October. Chinese tourists take pictures with Marx and Engels whose ideas are very popular in modern China. And here's a view of the revolution headquarters. Chinese students of the Vaganova Academy know that up until 1917 this building housed the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens.
Minmin Lee and Ensi Lyu, students of the Vaganova Academy: "It's very interesting to learn about the revolution because that's how you can find out a lot about this city and this country".
The Red Route ends on the Palace Square. The Chinese are familiar with these gorgeous views from a scene in an Eisenstein's movie where sailors climb the gates of the Winter Palace. The tour guide says that young Chinese are genuinely interested in the Russian history. It's likely that more Red Routes will open in the future. Zinaida Kurbatova, Leonid Orunchikov, Ivan Lavrikov, Vesti