The academy's courses take full advantage of Jiangxi's history to help students gain a deeper understanding of the Communist Party and its history, and improve their governance and management abilities.
"Anyone who wants to know the CPC must come to Jinggangshan, because it's the home of the CPC's first rural revolutionary base (established in 1927)," Mei said. "But our task is to introduce the Party's history and help more people to understand it."
Following a number of pilot programs, the academy's leaders decided to take students to visit places relevant to the Red Army's stay in the area. "We hope they will better appreciate the bitter lives the older generation lived," Mei said.
The academy provides instruction at more than 110 historical sites, some in neighboring provinces, such as Fujian and Hunan.
"The courses aren't based on traveling around, though" Mei said. "Our teachers relate one story about one figure at one site to help students understand the Party in detail. Our teachers undertake detailed preparations before their classes, so they are definitely not tour guides."
Huang Hongmei, a teacher whose specialist subject is the former residence of Zhu De, an early Party member who later became commander-in-chief of the PLA, said she visited Zhu's hometown, Yilong county, Sichuan province, in 2014 and interviewed several of the late general's descendants.
"I took a train to Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, and then traveled to Yilong by coach. If I hadn't visited Zhu's hometown, I wouldn't behave believed how arduous the journey was," she said.
To better explain Zhu and his personality, she also visited relatives of his wife, Kang Keqing, in Wan'an, a county in Jiangxi. "Coincidently, my hometown is also in Wan'an, and my primary school was next to the Kang museum. It may be my fate to focus on Zhu," she said.
Huang's preparations for the visits lasted more than 18 months, even though her students only stay at Zhu's former home in Jinggangshan and listen to stories about him for 15 minutes or so.
She wrote 12 drafts of her commentary before settling on the final version: "The stories I relate are the ones that moved me most. As an academy teacher, if I am not familiar with, or moved by the Party's history, how can I teach it to the students?"
Xiang Li, a professor of philosophy and aesthetics at Yunnan University who was attending the academy, praised the teaching methods: "Visiting the places the Communist leaders stayed, singing the songs they sang and eating the same sort of food they ate provides insights that can help us understand their behavior."
Inspiration
Han, from the military college in Anhui, was excited by her visit, and also learned a lot.
"I teach politics, but I find many young students, especially those born in 1980s and '90s, were bored by the stories I related, but I didn't understand why. The 10-day course at the academy helped me find the answer. Young people have no firsthand knowledge of the Party, so it's hard to help them understand its theories and history," she said.
"I've copied some teaching materials, including videos and photos, from the academy, and will share them with my students. Although my college has fewer historical resources related to the CPC, I want to try to simulate situations with my students. Participation in class is the key to helping young people learn about the Party."
