Driving a Red-tourism revolution

The driving routes were selected to strengthen Sino-Russian friendship and cater to market needs, Hunan tourism bureau's deputy director Wang Chaoxiang says.

Changsha journalist Zhang Di, who was also selected for the trip, believes self-driving tours can interest people like her, who were born in the 1980s.

Red tours have traditionally been arranged by schools or companies and haven't been top choices among younger travelers, she says.

The China National Tourism Administration and the Russian tourism authority are expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding on Red tourism for the 2015-2017 period.

Travel agencies on both sides will jointly develop routes.

Each side will develop five popular Red routes for each other, says China's Red-tourism coordination office's deputy director Luo Dihui.

Routes featuring high-speed railways will be launched in China.

Cities along the Beijing-Guangzhou and Shanghai-Kunming high-speed rail systems will cooperate to develop products.

About 900 million visits were made to China's revolutionary sites last year. The sector has undergone annual growth of more than 16 percent since 2004.