Xi Jinping’s visit to cradle of China’s communist revolution ahead of Lunar New Year 'shows he has consolidated his power'
President Xi Jinping (習近平) has paid his first visit as president to Jinggangshan, the cradle of the communist revolution in China, since rising to power three years ago.
Xi arrived in the remote mountainous area of Jiangxi (江西) province on Tuesday ahead of the Lunar New Year, according to the Weibo account of youth.cn, a news website affiliated to the central committee of the Communist Young League.
Photos posted by the Weibo account show a smiling Xi in black jacket, waving to and shaking hands with the villagers.
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Jinggangshan is where Mao Zedong (毛澤東) set up the Communist Party’s first revolutionary base in 1927, after communist forces suffered crushing losses in urban areas and sought refuge in the area’s dense forests.
It is traditional for Chinese leaders to visit old revolutionary bases like Jinggangshan around this time of year to send New Year blessings to residents.
Last February, accompanied by his wife Peng Liyuan and his daughter, Xi visited a remote village near Yanan, another symbolic base of the revolution.
His predecessor Hu Jintao visited Yanan and Jinggangshan ahead of the Lunar New Years in 2006 and 2009 respectively.