Red Route Tour- Chinese Communist Party

The guide was extremely knowledgeable and accommodating.

We went to the museum of the communist party, the poster museum, and saw the birthplace of the communist party. It’s a lot of information to take in, but very educational.

Thank you!

I had a blast on this tour. The site of the first Congress is very interesting and the museum is top notch. Penny was my guide and her knowledge level was off the charts. I love history and had way too many questions and it wasn’t a problem at all. Penny was able to answer everything in great detail. The highlight of the trip was the propaganda museum. It’s extremely cool to see the art combined with the political messaging in the posters. Going to the propaganda museum last lets you appreciate it more after what you learn from the first stops. Cannot recommend highly enough. Great experience!

The tour was fantastic and truly stood out from the others we did in China. Our guide, Penny, was extremely knowledgeable and did a great job answering our questions and explaining Chinese politics, even for those with little prior knowledge. Highly recommend this tour for anyone interested in Chinese modern history!

This was one of the best tours we did in China. You go to the French Concession and see the place where the Chinese Communist Party first formed then go to a museum that takes you through their recent history. The displays are very informative and very emotive. The pain and suffering of the people is evident and gives a perspective you don’t see in the West.

Penny, our tour guide had encyclopaedia knowledge of Chinese history and expressed it in perfect English. She was a total joy.

The tour concluded in the Propaganda Poster Museum which contains original posters from the past 50 years. You can even buy an original “The Little Ref Book”.

If you have any interest in China’s political history do not miss this tour. Highly recommended.

We did the CCP Tour. We found it very interesting and insightful. Penny was a great guide who new the history very well and also had a lots of extra local insights. Would highly recommend this tour.

Grundlig och intressant genomgång av KKP:s historia. Guiden Penny var mycket kunnig och påläst. Museet var modernt och pedagogiskt. Vi hade en givande och intressant diskussion.

Excellent tour for anyone wanting to understand why the CCP has such a strong hold in China. Official history, of course, but well worth it for the extensive material in the museum and the remarkable collection of propaganda posters. Penny was a very well informed guide too

Great tour if you are interested in more recent Chinese history or want a perspective on Chinese politics.

An amazing tour with a great, helpful and knowledgeable guide. Definitely my best experience in China.

I have always been curious about the historic and ongoing roles of the Communist Party in China's evolution from economic and political basket case to emergence as a world power. I received the equivalent of a quickie college course on this subject from Ms. Lily Wang on her Red Route Tour -- along with extraordinary hospitality -- and a lot of fun!

We visited the place where it all started in 1921 in Shanghai -- at the First Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. This fascinating museum -- a citadel of Communist Party leadership -- is, by the way, located in what has become a model of Chinese -style capitalism -- the upscale neighborhood of coffee houses and cafes known as Xintiandi.

We learned what happened at the Congress. But of even more importance to me was the historical context Ms. Wang provided. She explained in knowledgeable and entertaining fashion how the Communist Party built a movement that went on to play a major role in defeating Japanese invaders in the 1930s and 1940s and thereafter won a civil war that brought the Chinese Communist Party, led by Mao Zedong, to national power with its capital in Beijing. Ms. Wang also explained the various social and economic movements such as The Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution and the Opening Up policy to the West. She provided fascinating insights into the unprecedented economic growth of China since -- no place better demonstrated than in Shanghai -- the country's commercial center.

In short, our group came away from this tour with a much expanded understanding of how and why China -- led by the Chinese Communist Party -- became the world's second largest economy in about 40 years -- and why and how it has done this by blending socialism and capitalism.

The members of our group agreed The Red Route tour was far and away the most enlightening that we took in China -- and it inspired us to take another tour with Ms. Wang -- this one about the great religions of China. This tour helped to dispel a lot of confusion about Chinese culture. What we learned from Ms. Wang was that the Chinese Communist Party -- indeed, virtually all institutions in China, are rooted in philosophical, spiritual and religious traditions and values of China that date back thousands of years.

We visited Daoist, Buddhist and Confucian temples in Shanghai where Ms. Wang explained how each deeply influences daily life in China today. I'll share a couple of moments that illustrate the depth of this influence -- and the humor and wisdom of Ms. Wang. In one case, a member of our group expressed concern that we were running a little late on our schedule, Ms. Wang advised him to "go with the flow. Relax. Calm down," She explained this was how a Daoist would handle the moment, At another point, Ms. Wang settled a debate about where our group should have dinner that evening. Ms. Wang turned to me and said, "You are the most senior person here -- what would you advise.." Well, thanks a lot," I said. Ms. Wang pointed out she was, in the Confucian manner, showing special politeness and respect for the elderly..We all laughed.

A tour with Ms. Wang is not to be forgotten. A rare blending of wisdom, insight, humor and fun. By the end, you feel like family -- and that you have found a new and special friend in Ms. Wang.