Officials in China are planning to turn the base where the country’s first atomic bomb was developed into a tourist attraction. According to the Xinhau news agency, around 6m yuan (£595,000) is set to be spent on the site in the autonomous Xinjiang region to the northwest of the country. The unusual development project is being carried out by the local government and Tsinghua University in Beijing. Visitors will apparently be able to visit the laboratories and dormitories scientists used, while a 300-metre anti-air strike tunnel has also been earmarked for renovation and display. According to a report on the BBC, officials say the base in Malan will be turned into a “red tourism site”, which are chosen by the Communist Party to celebrate important events in its history. The country tested atomic bombs in the area in the 1960s, with the first recorded detonation taking place in the desert near Malan on October 16, 1964.
