Origins of the Communist Party brought to high-tech life
Jing’an is a potted history of Shanghai. Century-old villas, well-preserved traditional shikumen neighborhoods with high walls and stone gates, and renovated factories all have a story to tell. Glitzy retail malls, charming boutiques and annual music and arts events give the district a distinctive ambience and ever-growing opportunities. In this series, we explore some of the landmarks that have come to characterize the district’s culture and history.
Landmark ID:
Name: Museum of the Second National Congress of the Communist Party of China
Significance: The birthplace of the Party constitution
Address: No. 30, Lane 7, Laochengdu Rd N.
Opening hours: 9-11:30am, 1:30-4:30pm, Tuesday to Sunday.
Admission: Free
On June 1, the 97th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, nearly 4,000 people visited the Museum of the Second National Congress to pay tribute to the birthplace of the Party’s constitution.
It is one of the most popular “red” revolutionary sites in the city, receiving an average of 3,000 visitors every day. The museum began attracting younger people after it adopted advanced technologies in exhibits and introduced personalized tours.
The memorial is the site of the first plenary session of Second National Congress, which was held in 1922.
At the time, 12 Party delegates gathered in secret at the residence of Li Da in the Fudeli neighborhood, one of few remaining underground sites that managed to escape police raids. There, the group drafted the first Party constitution, an important document of history.
“We try to pique the interest of every visitor coming through the door,” said You Wei, deputy director of the memorial. “We want to provide a place where revolutionary stories and important history can be told and remembered.”
The memorial has 11 Party members, averaging 33 years in age. They are people who can connect with today’s youth generation and know how to present history in an entertaining way.
Digital interactive storytelling technologies were a key feature when the memorial reopened last year after a four-month renovation. One of the technologies relies on augmented reality, which allows visitors wearing specially designed glasses to “walk” into a meeting site and “see” Party leaders speaking in front of them. The experience is dynamic, transforming visitors into participants of history.
Personalized tours are also available, tailored to different groups.
“Visitors of different ages or backgrounds have different interests and levels of understanding,” You said. “So, we have designed different tours and prepared different commentaries for each.”
For example, young schoolchildren who may not be able to fully grasp complicated historical significance are given basic information they can relate to. Teenagers, on the other hand, are told stories about young Party members who were dedicated to the revolutionary cause and, in some cases, paid with their lives.
For elderly tour groups who do know much about the history of the period, the guides will share more detail and exchange ideas, treating them more as experts.
You said she remembers a group of visitors from the Party department in the northeastern city of Dalian. After they heard stories about the Second National Congress and Dalian, many of the high-ranking Party officials expressed surprise at learning information they didn’t know.
“We’ve researched archives and documents to dig out some rarely known yet great stories linking the memorial and other cities,” You said. “It interests out-of-town visitors. Many of them will only come here once, so we want to leave the most powerful impressions.”
After the memorial closes every day, guides work extra hours to review lists of the next day’s tour groups and tailor presentations to them. They also receive continuing education on the history of the period.
“We have to believe in what we are saying deep in our hearts before we can effectively explain history to visitors and have it touch their hearts,” said Zhu Yin, office director of the memorial.
Exhibits are changed from time to time, which memorial managers hope will be an incentive for locals to visit more than once.