Shanghai Uses National Day Events to Teach Revolutionary History to Youth

What changed

Shanghai is using the National Day holiday to turn revolutionary history into live programming for young people and the wider public.

At the Memorial of the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China, activities run from October 1 to 7, including flag-raising ceremonies, performances, youth classes and interactive quizzes. Four youth experiential classes are scheduled for October 1–3, while Shanghai’s Communist Youth League organizations have held nearly 70 related activities this year.

Why it matters

The approach moves patriotic education out of the classroom and into staged performances, public ceremonies and hands-on museum activities. At the memorial, children learn through historical interpretation, artifact education and interactive exercises built around a creative book about the First National Congress.

The wider city campaign links the 77th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China with the 90th anniversary of the Long March victory. In Pudong, young speakers connected Long March stories with personal experience and the history of the district’s development, while an original play used questions from young people to bridge different periods of revolutionary history.

That makes the holiday program more than a single ceremony. It is a coordinated effort to keep official revolutionary narratives visible across museums, youth groups and public squares. Its educational effect remains unclear: attendance figures and participant feedback were not provided.