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Volgograd has three sister-cities in China: Chengdu, Jilin, and Qujing. To mark the occasion, we've decided to invite them to participate in a new creative exchange project to share the most important and iconic landmarks of our cities. Not all of them, but those associated with our revolutionary past, the heroic defense of the homeland during the Great Patriotic War, and patriotic education.

The project was given the name "The Red Tourist."

The so-called "red" tourism, which involves visiting sites associated with the history of the Communist Party, the lives of communist leaders, and patriotic heritage, is one of the most popular activities in China.

The history of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-1945) closely intersects with this theme: Sichuan Province, where Chengdu is located, provided powerful logistical support to the front, Jilin Province was a key region of resistance, and Yunnan (where Qujing is situated) became a major outpost of the struggle.

The hero-city of Volgograd, too, has many sites that can be included in "red" tourist routes: the Volga-Don Shipping Canal and its History Museum; the Lenin Square and Lenin Monument in the Krasnoarmeysky District; the Square of the Fallen Fighters and the Alley of Heroes; Stalinist Empire-style buildings: the Volgograd Hotel, the Main Post Office, the Volgograd State Medical University; Mira Street and Sovetskaya Street; the Memorial and Historical Museum (formerly the Stalin Defense Museum); the Volgograd Planetarium; the "Stalingrad Battle" Panorama Museum; Chekist' Square; the Memorial Complex on the Mamay Hill; Joseph Stalin Museum, and others.

We invited school pupils to:

1) make short videos about any locations relevant to the project theme;

2) publish these videos and short interviews with their authors on our department's social media and on the bilingual website "Volgograd – the Capital of People's Diplomacy."

Very soon, we will have the pleasure to introduce Volgograd participants of the project to you!