Decades of development

August 1994: An outline on the implementation of patriotic education was issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, stressing the significance of patriotic education and introducing measures on how it should be provided. The outline said patriotic education should be universal and mainly targeted at teenagers. Displays and exhibitions should include Chinese history, traditional culture, the achievements of the country's socialist modernization, national conditions, socialist democracy and the legal system, among other things.

May 1995: Five ministries and committees, including the education and culture ministries, issued a circular recommending hundreds of books about patriotic education for teenagers to help raise their awareness of patriotism, strengthen their pride in the country and guide them to form a correct sense of value. The books included stories about Mao Zedong, an introduction to the four great inventions of ancient China, and the country's reform and opening-up policy. The circular also encouraged teenagers to watch patriotic movies and sing songs that praise the country.

October 1996: Jiang Zemin, then-general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, told the sixth plenary session of the 14th CPC Central Committee: "Patriotic education must be strengthened among people across the country, especially among the younger generation... we should let our people know that carrying on reform and opening-up, learning from other nations to improve our own abilities and promote the development of our country are important aspects of patriotism."

July 1997: The Central Committee of the CPC released, for the first time, a list of 100 patriotic education centers nationwide. Among them, 19 reflected China's ancient history and culture, nine showed the country's history of resisting foreign invaders, and 75 demonstrated the country's revolutionary struggle and socialist construction.

The list covered a number of famous places, such as Tian'anmen Square and the Palace Museum in Beijing, the September 18 Historical Museum in Shenyang, Liaoning province, and the Sun Yatsen Mausoleum in Nanjing, Jiangsu province.

June 2001: A list of the second batch of national patriotic education centers was released to the public. The sites, including the memorial hall of the Battle of Beiping - Tianjin (July - Aug 1937) and the Li Dazhao Martyrs Cemetery, dedicated to one of the founders of the CPC, mainly focused the Party's history. Another 140 centers were announced by the Central Committee of the CPC during the decade that followed.

March 2017: More than 40 sites were added into the list of national patriotic education centers, and the number of centers nationwide reached 428.