Nanji - The Last Communist Preserve in China

If the Soviet Union existed today, it would look like this. Shortages in the store, bread on coupons, collective farms and portraits of Lenin and Stalin everywhere. Communism on every corner. This is not a museum, but a real residential city.

Tourists and nostalgic citizens are brought here. I also went, and now I will show you how the most red city of China lives.

From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs. It seems like a living poster for socialist times. Smooth paths, perfectly planted trees, everything is measured and without fuss.

The city of Nanji in the province of Henan is called the last stronghold of the Chinese Maoists, followers of Comrade Mao. The walls of the houses are decorated with slogans, there are almost no cars on wide roads, and mechanical traffic controllers in white gloves have only recently been replaced with a modern traffic light.

The fact that communism is one big stereotype in China. Yes, there is symbolism, yes, Mao Zedong is depicted on the money, and the ruling force is called the Chinese Communist Party. But all this is a cover. In reality, China has long been the capitalist structure of the world. This is evident in almost everything.

Not here: in the “red” city, not only external features were preserved, but the very essence of the world order: collective farms, community work days, town-forming enterprises.

In the main square there are large portraits of leaders: Lenin and Stalin are revered here as saints.

Posters look modern, they were made in our time. Agitation is everywhere. On every wall, in every window. On the square are loudspeakers broadcasting the "Red East", the anthem of China since the "cultural revolution".

But once you move away from the most central place, reality begins. See what a convenient pedestrian crossing!

Students come to school with brooms. On duty. The one whose turn brings a broom from the house and cleans the territory.

The appearance of a foreigner at the box office caused real tantrum among Chinese children. It is as if in the 70s a couple of American tourists fell into school somewhere near Saratov.

Do you still have the impression that this is exactly like Soviet Russia, only inscriptions in an incomprehensible language?

Absolute visual tracing paper from the USSR.

Men are repairing a motorcycle in garages.

The grocery store is like two drops of water like a Soviet supermarket. These strips, painted with glass paint, I will never forget.

And inside there is a deficit!

Meat, milk and frozen goods were not delivered. There are noodles, toothbrushes, snack chips and vodka. For vodka a certain department.

My attention was drawn to a kiosk on the other side of the road. Its windows were closed with blackout curtains, but people constantly approached the window, took something and left. I decided to get closer.

Here they sold bread, white rolls.

And they didn’t even sell it, but issued it with coupons! You can’t buy anything for money. We were hungry, the woman took pity and gave us a bun. Bread in China is completely tasteless, but it fell well into an empty stomach.

In the village there is also a dining room. But dine in it will not succeed.

There is nowhere to eat lunch in the city. Usually in China there are restaurants, cafes or just street stalls with barbecue on every corner. Not at the Communists.

And now the fun begins. I got to where outsiders are definitely not waiting. The asphalt suddenly ended, I found myself between two residential quarters. An old lady with a shovel was in charge here. She poured sand into the deep pits to somehow repair the road.

I wandered into the zone of collective gardens, plants are bred in old bathrooms full of land. There was a dead end, I had to go back.

In a modern-looking apartment building, the toilets are located on the street.

Corridor system of dormitories. All this is also very familiar.

Balconies full of junk. But not glazed: it is forbidden not to show off.

And everywhere Mao, the Great Helmsman, the sun of the nation.

For some reason, the sun is portrayed at sunset.

In fact, this is the sunset. No matter how hard they try to save the city of communists, fewer people want to participate in this experiment.

Outside the central, licked part is already a completely different picture.

If what you saw earlier can be compared with the USSR in the 80s of the last century, then the dashing nineties begin a little further. The streets are turned into an endless bazaar, they trade directly from the ground, they throw garbage here. Yes, most of China looked like that ten years ago. But today you can hardly find such a picture.

It’s also dirty here.

The city of communists has vague prospects. On the one hand, “red” tourism is being developed here, which brings income to a small budget. On the other hand, the inhabitants have already ate socialist realism and want to live in the modern world. The mess is like a transition period. Greater China is becoming cleaner and more well-groomed every year.