The event was held on the Huishi Bridge to commemorate the joint of forces of the Red Army. (Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn)
The ceremony began on the southern end of the Huishi Bridge, with our platoon of reporters lining up in rows and columns. Then there were a series of speeches before we began our march.
Lead by a man waving a banner and a handful of uniformed soldiers, we marched across the bridge in formation. Then down the street, blocking one lane. It was a grand gesture, an activity that clearly held a lot of significance for the organizers.
Then we reached the reconstructed Gate of Joining Forces and a three-part pagoda that represented the union of the armies near the end of the Long March. There was a wreath laying and my fellow reporters formed a queue to lay flowers between the wreaths.
I felt very out of place.
I'm usually pretty comfortable in China. I know enough of the language to make friends and accomplish whatever I want to do. I'm chopstick master and I've traveled quite a bit in the country. But being the only foreigner in miles, wearing a Red Army costume hat handed out by the organizers, and partially participating in a ceremony to memorialize fighters in the revolution was surreal.
But while the march and ceremony seemed odd and uncomfortable for me, most of the people around me treated it as a reverent but everyday experience. Later, when my fellow China Daily reporter Ma Chi explained the concept of "Red Tourism" to me, I started to understand.
