# Global Times: Xi's reply letter encourages student docents to further share patriotic stories, carry forward revolutionary traditions

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- Published: 2026-06-16T19:37:00+07:00
- Author: PR Newswire

SHANGHAI and JIAXING, China, June 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — "We received a special
letter!" A burst of delighted voices filled the classroom as 10-year-old Yan Zhiling
and his classmates gathered around, their eyes sparkling with excitement. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping recently sent a reply letter to student docents at 
the Memorial Hall of the First National Congress of the CPC and the Nanhu Revolutionary
Memorial Hall, which are both the memorials of the birthplaces of the CPC. In the
letter, he offered words of encouragement to the docents, who are members of the
Chinese Young Pioneers (CYP), and extended festive greetings to them and to children
nationwide, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

As a student docent at the Memorial Hall of the First National Congress of the CPC
after school, Yan Zhiling was reminded of the moment he and several other young 
peer docents had sat down to write the letter together. "We wrote it very carefully,
stroke by stroke, making sure every character was neat and tidy," he recalled. 

"When we learned that we got the reply letter, we were overjoyed," the fourth-grader
told the Global Times. "This letter was the most precious Children’s Day gift we
received."

**A warm, inspiring reply**

In his reply, Xi said that he was pleased to learn that the students had fostered
a deep affection for the Party, the country and socialism, and had grown and learned
a lot through recounting the Party’s history, revolutionary stories and heroic deeds
at the site of the First National Congress of the CPC in Shanghai and beside the
Red Boat on Nanhu Lake in Jiaxing, East China’s Zhejiang Province, Xinhua reported.

These words of encouragement felt both warm and deeply inspiring to Yan Zhiling.
Yan Zhiling has always had a special affection for stories about the Party and the
country’s revolutionary history and development, especially the ones his father 
used to tell him, such as stories of the Party’s early members holding its first
national congress in Shanghai in 1921. Growing up surrounded by such vivid accounts,
the young boy quietly planted a seed in his heart.

When the "Honglaba" (red loudspeaker) club at Shanghai Huangpu Luwan No. 1 Central
Primary School recruited new members, Yan Zhiling signed up straight away. 

The club mainly organizes students to use their spare time to tell Party history
stories to child visitors at red-themed revolutionary sites and museums in Shanghai,
such as the school’s nearby Memorial Hall of the First National Congress of the 
CPC. After a period of training, Yan Zhiling became one of its members.

Other cities also have student docents like these. In April, members of the "Honglaba"
club took part in a study-and-exchange visit with student docents at the Nanhu Revolutionary
Memorial Hall in Jiaxing. In 1921, to evade pursuit by the reactionary forces, the
last session of the First CPC National Congress was held on a boat on Jiaxing’s 
South Lake. Both Shanghai and Jiaxing are witnesses of the moving stories of the
CPC’s early development.

During the study-and-exchange visit, young docents from the two cities gathered 
together, chattering excitedly as they exchanged tips and experiences from their
work. From their own stories to their shared ideals, as the conversation deepened,
so did their excitement. An idea then naturally took shape: Why not write a letter,
reporting what they had learned and how they had grown through their work as student
docents?

They began writing the letter at the end of April. By early May, the letter had 
been sent. To their surprise, they soon received the reply.

The young docents erupted with excitement the moment the reply letter arrived. "
I felt so proud and moved. He is so busy, yet he still cares about the growth of
ordinary Young Pioneers like us," said Li Ruicheng, a fifth-grader, also from Shanghai
Huangpu Luwan No. 1 Central Primary School.

"The reply was filled with the Party and the country’s earnest hopes for our younger
generation," Yan Jiacheng, a student docent from Jiaxing Experimental Primary School,
told the Global Times. "I will use my own voice to open the curtain on revolutionary
stories, sharing these stories with more people."

**‘Let children tell’**

In 2021, a nationwide initiative was launched to encourage CYP members across the
country to study the Party’s history and share these stories as docents at revolutionary
memorial venues, according to Xinhua.

Since the initiative was launched, many red-themed museums and memorial sites across
China have increasingly been visited by young student docents wearing the iconic
red scarves of the CYP, as patriotic education moves beyond textbooks and into real-
life practice. The "Honglaba" club is one representative example of this growing
student docent team.

According to Chen Lili, a counselor (teacher) of the CYP work committee at Shanghai
Huangpu Luwan No. 1 Central Primary School, the club was originally created with
a simple goal: "to let children tell Party history stories to other children."

Chen noticed that in some red heritage venues, the standard adult-style commentary
was often difficult for younger audiences to fully grasp, with language that could
feel overly formal and abstract. The school then cooperated with the Memorial Hall
of the First National Congress of the CPC, and invited professional docents of the
memorial to help refine the scripts, translating them into child-friendly language."
In this way, the Party history told by children feels much closer to their peers’
way of thinking, and is easier for children of the same age to understand," Chen
told the Global Times.

The experience of giving these talks has also become a rewarding journey for the
pupil docents themselves. Chen said that through repeated on-site presentations,
the transformation in these students has been striking: they have grown bolder, 
more confident and far more comfortable speaking in public. Children who once shied
away from addressing a crowd are now able to stand calmly before dozens of visitors
and deliver their talks with ease, she added.

When asked about the changes brought by serving as student docents, the children’s
eyes lit up. "I now truly understand what the Party’s forebears went through, and
I have a deeper grasp of these revolutionary stories and the spirit behind them,"
said Li, who has been a docent for four years. "I’m not just memorizing lines – 
I’m telling these moving stories naturally, from the heart."

Jiang Qingyue from Jiaxing Experimental Primary School, who has been a student docent
in Jiaxing for three years, agreed. She told the Global Times that the experience
has strengthened her character and deepened her sense of patriotism. 

"I’m no longer simply reciting words; I’m speaking about the Party’s memorable years
with reverence and sincerity, carrying forward the original aspiration of the red
spirit," she said.

**Carrying the legacy forward**

This year marks the 105th anniversary of the founding of the CPC and the Party’s
cause calls for unremitting efforts across generations. The reply letter encouraged
the children to hold high the banner of the CYP and follow the Party, carry forward
revolutionary traditions, enrich their knowledge and capabilities, build strong 
characters, grow into children devoted to the Party and the people, and carry the
baton of history forward on the new journey, reported Xinhua.

This letter has planted the seed of inheriting the red legacy in the hearts of the
young student docents, allowing it to take root and flourish as part of their lives
and growth. "This seed reminds us to love our country, never bow to difficulties,
and, as we grow up, stay true to our beliefs and ideals and become useful people,"
said Yan Zhiling.

How can more children be encouraged to take part, and how can red stories be told
in a more vivid and far-reaching way? Some red heritage sites are continuing to 
explore new ideas and innovations.

For the Nanhu Revolutionary Memorial Hall, for instance, the experience for its 
student docents goes beyond standard guided tours. The venue has also staged immersive
productions themed on revolutionary history, allowing the young docents to step 
into roles, relive history at close range and deepen their understanding of the 
revolutionary spirit, the Global Times learned from the venue.

For the student docents of the Memorial Hall of the First National Congress of the
CPC, the script has expanded far beyond one version. In addition to the original
Putonghua version, there are now English, Shanghai dialect, comic-strip and kuaiban(
a traditional Chinese performance art that combines rhythmic clapping with storytelling)
versions, making the stories of the Party’s history more vivid and engaging, said
Yang Yu, director of the memorial’s publicity and education department. 

"This kind of entertaining, educational approach helps children remember and understand
the Party’s stories much better – something even many adults can’t achieve," Yang
told the Global Times.

The English version has been equally heartening, Yang said. She recalled seeing 
a student docent at the memorial telling foreign visitors the story of the Party’s
founding in simple, but engaging, English. After the talk, the foreign audience 
applauded warmly. "Later, I asked the young docent how he felt, and he said he was
very proud, saying, ‘I just want foreign children to learn about our CPC’s story,
and I also want them to know how proud I am as a Chinese child.’"

Yang added that the memorial will continue to attract more teen students to join
the effort to share the story of the Party’s founding and development, "so that 
more children can tell the story in their own innocent, childlike voices, and more
young listeners can become storytellers."

 

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