Nanjiecun: A Last Mao-style Collective

Are you going to visit Zhengzhou on your Henan tour?  A side trip 128km down south to Nanjiecun Village is quite unique since Nanjiecun is the last enclave of the Mao-style collective in a sea of socialist market economy with Chinese characteristics.  It is an anachronism, a quaint ,  lovable oddity and a Maoist Disneyland in the competitive market economy in China.

Nanjiecun Village is located in Linying county 128km south of Zhengzhou along the Jingguang Railway ( Beijing – Guangzhou ) ,  National Highway No.107 and Jingguang Expressway ( Beijing – Guangzhou ).  Nanjiecun is easily reached by the buses starting from Zhangzhou.

Now there are 848 families with a  population of 3100 people in  Nanjiecun Village and an area of 1.78km square km.  Over 10,000 migrant workers live in Nanjiecun Village. These migrants work in the factories and enjoy partially the welfare of the villagers of Nanjiecun.

In 1980s, when the rest of China started to further deepen the economic market economy and practicing opening-up policy,  Wang Hongbin, the head of Nanjiecun took the lead in practicing collectivism in the opposite direction within  Nanjiecun Village, using Mao Zedong thought to manage and develop his village.

He and his team collected all the arable lands that have been allocated to villagers to build factories.  The villagers now work  like  urban residents in those factories and companies earning monthly wages.  Now Nanjiecun runs totally 26 enterprises engaged in food, packing, printing and pharmacy.

All the villagers-turned workers earn more or less RMB 2000 each month. The collective village provides each family with one flat at the village’s resident apartment blocks.  For a three-generation big family, they will get a three-room flat; for a two-generation family, they will   have a two-room apartment. Each family is also given all the electric appliances like TV set, washing machine, air-conditioner and so on.

Though it still has 1000 mu ( about 170  acres) of arable land for farming, Nanjiecun looks like a small austere town that has  monotonous resident blocks and factory areas with its stark utilitarian charm. Giant portraits of Mao, Stalin, Lenin, Mar  loom over the “East is Red Square”.

Two village militiamen wearing military-style uniforms stand as an honor guard at the foot of the Mao statue. The revolutionary Chinese slogans are everywhere and Communist songs broadcast on a loop.

Now the Nanjiecun  has started to position itself as a tourist destination since each year more and more people come to visit Nanjiecun Village.

They have a tourist company housed in a three-storey building where you pay RMB 80 and sit in an electric car for a 2-hour tour of the whole village including the industrial area, high and new agricultural area, villagers’ living blocks, square cultural area, education area, tropical precious and special plants, and red revolutionary education area.

Well, follow me to have a glimpse of this ” Socialist utopia”.

This is the main entrance to Nanjiecun Village, an avenue known as Yinsong Avenue leading to “East is Red Square”

We enter the Yinsong Avenue and soon see a huge signboard pointing to the office building of Nanjiecun Tourism Company.  Nanjiecun is an AAAA National Level Scenic Area.

You will be arranged sitting in an electric car to tour around the village.

You first visit Nanjiecun Culture Garden where you learn more about the history and development of Nanjiecun through visiting its exhibition hall.  The exhibition explainer gives me a quick but clear introduction to Nanjiecun.

Then move on to the “The East is Red Square”. On the main street of Yinsong  dotted with Mao’s slogans.

Around the Mao’s statue  are the  giant portraits of  Stalin, Lenin and Mar.

The huge signboard shows the great contributions  by Chairman Mao.

We pass by Nanjiecun’s Favoring Factory.

We drive past Nanjiecun’s Heating and Gas Company.

This is Nanjiecun Instant Noodle Factory.

This is the building of Nanjiecun’s Naikeda Color Printing Company.

I enter the workshop of Nande Food Company, a joint venture with Japan, found in 1995.  It produces wet noodle, the only wet noodle factory of such kind in China.  The wet noodles have been exported to Canada, US, Australia and so on.

Now we come to the villagers’  living area in Nanjiecun.  The collective village provides each family with one flat.

This is Chaoyang Gate, the northern tip of Nanjiecun. Outside the gate is teemed with restaurants, shops, K TV and so on with the market economy.

Nanjiecun’ s Kindergarten

Nanjiecun Primary School

Nanjiecun High School

Nanjiecun’s pure tourist stuff – tropical precious and special plants

Nanjie ‘s red revolutionary education area – Reproduction of  Shaoshan — Mao Zedong’s Birthplace

Any questions,  just drop a line.