The modern revolution in Zunyi is post-industrial, but a sculpture of a Red Army nurse in the downtown betrays its ties to China's earlier revolution.[Photo: China Daily/Li Xueshi]  

By staff reporter ZHANG XUEYING

The economic engines of the country are creating a hard-working, well-off populace whose tastes are turning to more idyllic conditions; the great cities they helped build don't offer the rest and relaxation the 'leisured' classes now need. Peace can be found in places with less of an industrial footprint, like rural Zunyi where residents are providing 'the good life' for others and making it their own.

Zunyi was a stronghold of the revolution led by the Communist Party of China between the 1920s to the 1940s, and was home to several events that helped shape the course of China's modern history. Today this piece of the past is still fondly remembered, partly through the many Red Army statues across the city. But locals are aware that their pressing priority is to achieve the economic prosperity that has long eluded them.

Zunyi City started the 21st century much like many areas of China that took a back seat during reform and opening-up in the 1980s and 1990s. Economic development has not been as rapid as other areas. In Zunyi's case, it was limited by its geographic inaccessibility in the depth of great mountains in Guizhou Province, southwestern China. But conditions are changing, as inhabitants of its richer neighboring cities are rediscovering their love of pristine natural beauty and refreshing rusticity. The doors to this 'backwoods' are open to China's burgeoning middle class on the economic front lines. But tourism isn��t the only thing on the go here; problem-solving for the manufacturing and agricultural sectors holds much promise.

Mu Degui, secretary of the CPC Zunyi municipal committee, hopes that the surge of reforms focused on small cities and towns will give a boost to Zunyi's economy. 'To our south is the provincial capital Guiyang, and just north is the economic dynamo of Chongqing, a municipality directly under the central government. For many years this geographical location has put us in the 'middle child' predicament. Today it means more opportunities.'