The Competition project is located in Wuyang Town, Ruijin City, Jiangxi Province, 18 kilometers to downtown Ruijin. It is situated between Wuyang Village and Guoxing Village, in the midstream of Mianjiang River. Ruijin is the “Old Red Town” renowned domestically and worldwide, leaving a glorious chapter in China’s revolutionary history and holding an important status in the history.
Ruijin is the place of birth for China’s first red political power – the Soviet Republic of China’s Temporary Central Government, the center of the Central Revolutionary Base during the Second Civil Revolutionary War in China, and one of the starting points of the worldwide renowned expedition – Red Army’s Long March covering over 12,500 kilometers. The Competition’s location for planning design is Wuyang Village where the first bridge of the Red Army’s Long March is located and Guoxing Village which is one kilometer away. Wuyang Village was the practice place for red agricultural development and the famous demonstration village for the spring farming during the period of Soviet Area. All China’s old generation revolutionists, including Mao Zedong and Zhu De, lived and fought here. The collection of red stories is the red heritage of the village developed as scenic spots: the First Bridge of the Long March, Mao Zedong’s Old Residence, Spring Farming Flag Award Conference, the 9th Red Army Base, Red Station, Riverside Pavilion, etc. Across the river toward south to Guoxing Village is Majitang, a 67ha lotus pool that is the largest lotus pool in Ruijin. In summer, the blossoming lotus and the cluster of ancient buildings kept completely form a contrast, attracting numerous visitors to take pictures, appreciate views, sketch and travel. It offers a foundation for agricultural sightseeing. The long history, vivid culture, and rich resources for tourism as well as the well kept ecological landscape and the original countryside lifestyle, are the foundation of planning and design, showing the feasibility of tourism development.
Red tourism is to organize themed tourist activities and to guide the visitors to learn and commemorate the revolutionary history. The media is the memorial places and iconic things originated from the great achievement by the leadership of the Communist Party of China during the revolutionary wars. The inner parts are the revolutionary history, stories and the spirit. Moreover, another requirement of “keeping the original countryside lifestyle” and “protecting the ancient inheritance” is added to the famous red village. Under the background of celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, the red tourism becomes more and more popular. The major challenge of shaping a famous red village is to answer these questions – how to overlap red tourism with rural travel organically, how to express the spirit by innovative planning and design, and how to attract visitors of varied ages.
The theme of 2021 Ruijin L&A Design Star Competition is “Meandering Red”. The target is the integrated design for the tourism and culture of Wuyang Village and Guoxing Village in Ruijin. The principle is “Led by Red, Keeping Green, Inheriting Ancient Ambience”. The integrated planning for two villages shall be based on the integration of the local tourism resources and the exploration of the inner core of the spirit. By enhancing the landscape, retelling the historical stories and restoring the historical buildings, the result shall be a famous red village with vivid history and good ecological environment. The target visitors are of varied ages rather than the previous single group. Ruijin brand of red tourism stands out due to the differentiation, and is the sample for new red tourism.
The students of globally renowned design universities and colleges are invited to participate in this Competition. These universities and colleges include Harvard University, The University of Tokyo, Peking University, Tsinghua University, Tongji University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, The University of Hong Kong, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, etc. The experts of high prestige in the industry are invited to be the jury members. They will bring their international view to a profound discussion on how to express the permeation of spirit in reality. It will help shape a red tourism destination, with uniqueness of Ruijin, suitable for study, travel, and innovation.