Chinese Kindergarteners Carry ‘Explosive Packs’ in ‘Long March’ Reenactments

Ahead of China’s Oct. 1 National Day, kindergartens in several parts of the country staged politically themed activities commemorating the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Long March, with some children reportedly carrying cardboard “explosive packs” and taking part in simulated military exercises.

Videos circulating online appeared to show young children lining up with props resembling explosive packs, some fitted with mock grenades, while carrying red flags. Other footage showed adults dressed in Red Army-style clothing leading children through activities modeled on wartime scenarios.

The images drew criticism from Chinese social media users, some of whom accused schools of introducing militaristic political education to children at an increasingly young age.

Preschoolers ‘retrace the Long March’

State and local media have openly promoted Long March-themed education for young children.

In Shanghai, a report from the Changning district government described several kindergartens holding National Day activities in which children learned about the Long March through games and reenactments. At Anshun Road Kindergarten, children dressed as “little Red Army” members and participated in an immersive Long March experience after hearing revolutionary stories from older volunteers.

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Other schools organized obstacle courses and military-style games. According to the original reporting, Meilinwan Kindergarten in Xiuwen County, Guiyang, held a parent-child event on Sept. 30 titled “Welcoming National Day With Childlike Hearts: Retracing the Long March Route.”

Footage cited in the report showed some children carrying cardboard props resembling explosive packs, with mock grenades attached. Vision Times could not independently verify the location and provenance of every video circulating online.

The footage nevertheless triggered sharp criticism among Chinese netizens.

“Children should be attending preschool, not being sent to the Taliban,” one commenter wrote.

“You’re promoting militarism to such young children,” another said, while a third asked, “Are you training terrorists?”

An overseas X user using the name LuJun Quan criticized the imagery, writing: “Carrying explosive packs, turning kindergarten classes into assault units. The CCP’s brainwashing of minors is extremely thorough. It indoctrinates children from an early age with this kind of terrorist thinking, just like the Taliban.”

Long March becomes a national classroom theme

The activities come as Beijing has placed renewed emphasis on the Long March in schools during its 90th anniversary year.

On Sept. 1, the CCP Central Committee’s Publicity Department, China’s Ministry of Education, and China Media Group jointly broadcast the 2026 edition of The First Lesson of the New School Year. The program’s theme was “Our Long March Road.”

According to the Chinese Ministry of Education, the program used historical accounts, on-location lessons and other presentations to teach students about the Long March and encourage them to follow what authorities described as the revolutionary predecessors’ example.

The Long March has long occupied a central place in the CCP’s political mythology. Official accounts portray the 1934–1936 campaign as an epic military and ideological triumph that helped ensure the Communist movement’s survival.

CCP historical sources, however, acknowledge that the march began after Communist forces suffered major military setbacks during the Nationalist government’s fifth “encirclement and suppression” campaign.

A People’s Daily Party-history account cited former Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai describing the circumstances bluntly: “The Long March of thousands of miles was because we were defeated in Jiangxi … We could no longer hold them back and had no choice but to withdraw from Jiangxi.”

Patriotic performances spread to older students

The political education was not confined to preschoolers.

At a high school in Huzhou, Zhejiang Province, students recently performed a group recitation titled “Chinese People Can Fly” during the opening ceremony of a school sports meet, according to video circulated on Chinese social media.

Students repeatedly chanted the refrain “Chinese people can fly,” while the performance praised Chinese identity, language and national pride. Online reports identified the school as Huashengda Foreign Language School in Huzhou.

The video quickly attracted ridicule online.

“Chinese people who jump from buildings and bridges can fly,” one commenter wrote.

“Did they learn that disgusting tone from North Korea?” another asked.

At the university level, a separate video released on Sept. 29 reportedly showed students at Xiangtan Institute of Technology in Hunan Province being required to write China’s national anthem from memory as part of a beginning-of-term exercise.

According to reports citing footage from Xiangtan Radio and Television, students were told that “not a single character can be wrong, and all punctuation marks must also be correct.” The institute separately confirmed that more than 4,200 first-year students attended its opening ceremony on Sept. 29.

The exercise also drew mocking responses online.

“Where in North Korea is this?” one commenter wrote.