A journey of understanding — discovering the spirit still shaping China's path forward

Throughout these visits, I kept returning to one question: Why does the Long March remain so important in China today?

Part of the answer, I believe, lies in the way the past continues to be remembered in the present. China has changed enormously since the 1930s, with infrastructure, technology and economic development transforming daily life. Yet stories from the revolutionary period remain central to how the CPC describes its mission and China's development path.

For me, this historical continuity offers a way to better understand Chinese modernization. China's achievements cannot be explained through economic statistics alone; they also need to be considered alongside the country's experiences of national struggle, social transformation, and the search for a development path suited to its circumstances.

Understanding China does not require international audiences to share the same political views or interpretations of history. It does, however, require curiosity and a willingness to hear the stories that Chinese people continue to remember.

Taking part in this journey has deepened my appreciation of those stories. From the pine trees to the villages, rivers, and mountains along the route, each stop revealed a different dimension of the Long March: sacrifice, ties with local communities, perseverance and endurance. More importantly, it transformed history from something I had learned about into something I could connect to particular people and places.

The Long March ended nine decades ago, but its legacy remains alive. Through this journey, one lesson has become increasingly clear to me: to understand where China is going, we must first understand the road it has traveled.