"Red tourism", a popular form of tourism featuring the Communist Party of China's revolutionary history, continues to heat up in Jingyu county, Baishan, Jilin province, where a war hero gave his life for the country 80 years ago.

During the National Day holiday from Oct 1 to 8, about 50,000 people visited the memorial of General Yang Jingyu (1905-1940) in the county.

The spirit of the great national hero has inspired generation after generation to forge ahead, said Sui Xinbo, deputy director of Jingyu's publicity department.

"It is more meaningful to explore the connotation of the 'Jingyu spirit', as this year marks the 75th anniversary of the victory in the World Anti-Fascist War and the 80th anniversary of the general's sacrifice for the motherland," Sui said.

Jingyu county, which was named after the hero, has been putting great emphasis on the inheritance of the spirit of Yang and the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army.

County residents are proud to tell the stories of the heroes to outsiders, Sui said.

Memorial guide Wang Mengyao said Yang, the commander and political commissar of the First Route Army of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army, was surrounded by a group of Japanese invaders and a puppet army in the county, which was then known as Mengjiang, on Feb 23, 1940.

Yang opened fire on the invaders, battling alone until he was killed.

"The enemy cut open his stomach and found it contained only undigested grass roots, bark and cotton wool (from the cotton-padded overcoat he was wearing)," Wang said. "Even the brutal invaders were shocked and awed."

In the Chinese people's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45)－and even the wider World Anti-Fascist War, known in the West as World War II－the earliest, lengthiest battle was in Northeast China (starting from 1931, when the Japanese Kwantung Army launched a full-scale invasion), Wang said, adding that it also featured the toughest fighting environment.

In February 1934, Yang, head of an independent division of the revolutionary army in Northeast China under the leadership of the CPC, collaborated with 16 local anti-Japanese groups to hold a meeting to found the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army.

Soon after that, the enemy captured hunters and farmers scattered in the mountains to cut off the supply of food and weapons to the fighters.

In winter, facing freezing temperatures of -20 to -40 C, the soldiers, who lacked food and clothing, could not even light a fire for warmth because doing so could have exposed their location.

In memory of the national hero, Mengjiang county changed its name to Jingyu county in 1946.

"I was born and raised in Jingyu. I have known his story since I was very young. The more I learned about him, the more I admired him," said Wang Dejin, an expert on the study of Yang and the united army.

"I hope more people can gain inspiration from his story and inherit his spiritual power," he said.

In recent years, the local government has integrated the resources of red tourism and the natural and ecological resources of Changbai Mountain. It has also carried out various kinds of red training and tourism activities and has led more tourists to learn about revolutionary history.

"He kept fighting in such a harsh environment. I want my son to think of it whenever he has difficulties in the future," said a woman surnamed Li, who took the 8-year-old to visit Jingyu county during the holiday.

Every year, more than 400,000 visits are made from around the country to the county, county data showed.

Han Junhong in Changchun contributed to this story.