On June 17, a group of middle-aged people carrying small portable stools circled around a lecturer at Yangjialing Village in Yan’an, Shaanxi Province.
In Yan’an, the city famed as a cradle of Chinese revolution, such scenes are common. This group of people consists mainly of students from the China Executive Leadership Academy Yan’an (CELAY), a key training school established by the Communist Party of China (CPC) six years ago. They are mostly middle-ranking officials who visited the city to attend the academy’s 10-day training sessions. Visits to revolutionary sites in Yan’an were an integral part of the training.
“That is the unique training method of the school,” said Ma Zhaoqi, a lecturer at CELAY. “We take students to historical sites to experience the original environment of the revolution.”
On June 17, Ma lectured his students on an article by Liu Shaoqi, President of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1959-68, on how to be a good Communist.
“In his article, Liu explains in detail how to get along with the masses,” said Ma, who mixed stories from Liu’s life into his lecture.“He lived a very simple life. Especially after the founding of the PRC, he even distributed his food rations to other people.”
In addition to Yangjialing Village, where Mao Zedong made his well-known remarks “all reactionaries are paper-tigers” to U.S. journalist Anna Louise Strong, trainees are also taken to other revolutionary sites. The Date Orchard, where the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the CPC operated in the late 1930s and early 1940s and the Pagoda Hill, a must-see landmark in Yan’an, are on most itineraries.
“This method is effective,” said Lu Weidong, another teacher at CELAY. “Since most of the students in the school now are in their 40s, 50s or even 30s, it is necessary to show them how the Party triumphed over adversity.”
In order to make its training programs more vivid, the school also invites some elderly residents in Yan’an to contribute.
Liu Yu is one of them. “I have been living in Yan’an for almost 60 years,” Liu said.“I experienced almost every important event in the Party’s history that happened here. I don’t use textbooks in the class but students say my lectures are very interesting since I have a lot of stories to tell.”
“It is my first time here,” said Chen Yingxian, Deputy Director of the Bureau of Culture and Science of the Ministry of Culture. “It feels really different when you stand at this former revolutionary base of the CPC. The old generations of revolutionaries lived in very shabby houses and didn’t have enough food. It is a miracle that they were able to succeed under such conditions.”
“It is quite a fresh new experience compared to my routine work,” said Zhao Wei, Deputy Director of Insurance Regulatory Commission of Guangdong Province.“Visiting the former residences of Party leaders such as Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, I was astonished to see they used to live in such harsh conditions. Although I’ve learned about the early days of revolution from books and TV programs, it is still very different when you are really in there.”
Living in the 10-square-meter dormitory in the school with simple meals every day, Zhao said he really enjoyed his stay at the academy. “Sitting in the classroom again makes me calm down and think clearly. It is a very precious experience. I always felt upset when I came across difficulties at work. But compared to the hardships that older generations of revolutionaries had to work through, our difficulties are minuscule.”
“It is very important for Party members to have memories of history, as they are the treasure of the Party. But greater numbers of young people, with better and better living standards, tend to ignore that,” said Lu. “Our spirit in the new era would be like water without a source or a tree without roots if we don’t value revolutionary history and draw strength and inspiration from those days.”

Major Training Schools of the CPC
The Party School of the CPC Central Committee
The Beijing-based Party School of the CPC Central Committee is the Party’s top training institution. It has trained 61,024 people through a wide range of programs since its establishment in 1933.
Provincial and ministerial-level officials usually undergo two months of training in political science, public management, economics and history. Young and middle-aged officials spend six months to a year at the school, usually followed by a promotion.
Since 1981, the school has also offered postgraduate and doctoral programs to nonofficial students. These programs focus on philosophy, economics, law, politics and the history of the CPC.
China Executive Leadership Academy Yan’an
The China Executive Leadership Academy Yan’an, opened in March 2005. With its distinctive teaching content, the academy takes full advantages of its unique historical resources, and provides cadres with a profound education in revolutionary traditions, ideals and beliefs. The school specializes in teaching CPC history, Party building theory and revolutionary traditions
to leading Party and government officials, business executives, professionals and army officers.
China Executive Leadership Academy Jinggangshan
The China Executive Leadership Academy Jinggangshan is a national training base in the field of CPC history, Party building theory and revolutionary traditions. Established in March 2005, the school is open to Party and government officials, business executives, professionals and army officers.
The school describes its academic function as a base for instruction in revolutionary tradition and national condition education, which aims to raise the overall quality and governance capability of Party cadres. Teaching models such as longand short-term workshops and learningthrough-experience training programs are adopted.
China Executive Leadership Academy Pudong
The China Executive Leadership Academy Pudong is a Shanghai-based international, contemporary and innovative leadership academy that stands at the cutting-edge of leadership training.
Opened in March, 2005 it strives to foster effective leadership for the coordinated development of the country’s economy and society. The school’s target students are middle- and high-ranking government officials, senior business executives and professionals. It is also open to the general public and provides MBA and MPA programs and other specific courses tailored for both domestic and international students.