Jinggang Mountains have rich reserves of porcelain clay and rare earth ore, which are two major dominant minerals.

Following the unsuccessful Autumn Harvest Uprising in Changsha, Mao Zedong led his 1,000 remaining men here, setting up his first peasant soviet.

Mao then made an alliance with the local bandit chieftains Wang Zuo and Yuan Wencai, who had previously had little association with the Communists.

For the first year he set up military headquarters at Maoping, a small market town encircled by forests guarding the main western route into the mountains.

Zhu De and his 1000 remaining troops, who had participated in the abortive Nanchang Uprising, joined Mao Zedong toward the end of April 1928.

The partnership between Mao Zedong and Zhu De marked the heyday of the Jinggang Mountains base area, which rapidly expanded to include, at its peak in the summer of 1928, parts of seven counties with a population of more than 500,000.

In late February 1930, the bandits Yuan Wencai and Wang Zuo were assassinated by Communist guerillas, probably on orders from officials in the Jiangxi Soviet.

Along with Mao Zedong's hometown, Shaoshan, the Jinggang Mountains is one of the most important sites of the early Communist Revolution.

During the Cultural Revolution, it became a place of pilgrimage for young Red Guards, who took advantage of a nationwide "networking movement".

At its peak, more than 30,000 Red Guards arrived a day, causing terrible problems of food, housing, sanitation.

[3] Sites promoted by the local authorities include the mint of the Red Army, the Revolution Museum, and the Martyrs Cemetery.