Today, Mao Zedong – the man who founded the People’s Republic of China in 1949 and ruled it in absolute terms until his death in 1976 – is paradoxically both omnipresent and semi-invisible. Anyone buying or selling goods in China will see Mao every day; his face adorns all Chinese currency notes. Tourists encounter myriad Mao artifacts, such as posters, T-shirts, fridge magnets and alarm clocks, in markets from Kunming to Haerbin.
Mao’s name even graces China’s nightlife scene: Music, Oasis and Art
(or MAO) is a pulsing new Shanghai nightclub, while Mao Livehouse in
Beijing is a hip live music venue.
But, China’s currency aside, the official use of Mao’s face and
revolutionary slogans – which were once daubed across buildings and
public squares nationwide – is almost non-existent. Apart from a museum
in his hometown of Shaoshan in Hunan province, a mausoleum and portrait
in Beijing and statues on public squares in a handful of cities like
Chengdu, Guiyang and Shenyang, Mao is rapidly assuming Yesterday’s Man
status as China seeks to present a futuristic face to a newly engaged
outside world.
To read our full article about the tourism legacy and artistic
inspiration of the Great Helmsman in 21st- century China, published in
the new issue of CNN Traveller magazine, visit: http://cnntraveller.com/2007/11/01/follow-the-leader/
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