Zunyi
A 72-hour meeting in 1935 made Mao leader and gave the city its identity; Maotai's $500B fermentation gave it wealth — both locked in place by events no other city can replicate.
A three-day meeting in Zunyi in January 1935 made Mao Zedong the military leader of the Chinese Communist Party, redirecting the course of the twentieth century. The Zunyi Conference, held while the Red Army was retreating during the Long March, represented a punctuated equilibrium: decades of gradual factional manoeuvring resolved in 72 hours.
Today Zunyi monetises that 72-hour event through 'red tourism' — Party members and students travel from across China to visit the conference site, the memorial museum, and the surrounding Long March route. The city generates substantial revenue from a historical moment, turning path-dependence into GDP.
A 3-day meeting in 1935 made Mao leader of the CCP — and Zunyi still monetises those 72 hours through red tourism, turning a single historical pivot into permanent economic infrastructure.
But the more interesting economic story is Maotai. The town of Renhuai, under Zunyi's jurisdiction, produces Kweichow Moutai — the world's most valuable spirits company, with a market capitalisation that has at times exceeded $500 billion. The baijiu (grain liquor) is made exclusively with water from the Chishui River and local sorghum, creating a geographic lock-in that cannot be replicated elsewhere. Moutai production depends on the specific microorganisms in the local environment — the fermentation cultures that give the spirit its distinctive flavour are literally tied to the physical location.
Zunyi demonstrates that path-dependence comes in two forms: political (the conference) and biological (the fermentation). One created a city's identity; the other created its wealth. Both are locked in place by events that cannot be repeated elsewhere, giving a relatively remote Guizhou city disproportionate influence over China's political mythology and its most valuable luxury brand.