This is a continuation of my RTW diary from November 2003.Tuesday, jacketed, I headed back to Tian’anmen to explore further.
First things first and as the subway drops you off by Maos’ Mausoleum, it seemed only fitting that I should go and check for myself as to Maos’ state of health. It is an unusual feature of communist states that they preserve their leaders after their death and make an attraction of them in this way.
It originally stemmed from a belief that there was something unique about the brains of these great ideologues, which future technologies would better be able to evaluate and understand. Actually with Mao, the Chinese felt that there may well be great revolutionary thoughts left unsaid in Maos’ brain, which future technologies could discover for future generations. Hence Mao’s preservation in Beijing and Lenin's in Moscow.
It has to be said though that there is also a desire on the part of the Chinese to see and to honour Mao. Whatever his legacy, he is greatly revered here. From his portrait hanging in the Square to his portrait on the money, ‘The Great Helmsman’ as he was known is still a key figure in China.
I was interested in all of this and in seeing Mao too, as I’d specialised in East Asian 20th Century politics and ideologies as part of my International Politics degree. My ‘China’ Professor at University had actually met Mao in the 1960s and told us how he had swum with him and his entourage in the Yellow River… while the chain-smoker Mao did a leisurely breast stroke, puffing away on a cigarette! Yet even my enamoured Prof. would admit that Mao was the greatest butcher of the 20th Century, perhaps responsible for more deaths than Stalin and Hitler combined.
I hadn’t expected the atmosphere around the Mausoleum to be so upbeat. People from all over China come to Beijing; most aim to see Mao, and they are excited when they do so. People were dressed in their smart clothes or their state uniforms for the occasion. They had made an effort especially for Mao. Everyone in the square was keen to pose for photos and was beaming away from the thrill of standing in Tian’anmen and outside Mao's tomb. It was perhaps the first place I have travelled to in the world where I could stand un-hassled to one side, while hawkers crowded around the local Chinese in the square, offering Polaroid portraits of their moment with Mao.
Entrance is free, and after queuing briefly in the square (they shift a high volume of people through at double pace quick march, so waiting times are brief), I was ushered with a group into the Mausoleum compound where we were paused to allow visitors to buy plastic flowers from a booth to lay around the body of Mao. As well as being the only Westerner in this particular batch of Mao visitors, I was also among a minority of visitors who did not honour him in this way. Visitors are led inside in batches rather than as a constant stream, so that the plastic flowers can be cleared from the tomb and brought back out to the kiosk in a permanent cycle of sale and resale. After the flowers were bought, we were ushered up the steps of the Mausoleum, past a statue of Mao seated and looking jovial, and into the chamber where his body lay.
Initially, forgive me, I thought Maos’ body was internally lit with a light-bulb actually placed inside his head as his face glowed such an ethereal orange! On closer inspection (not that you get very close), I realised that he is carefully spot-lit. His body was draped in a Chinese flag with his head on display. The crowd is marched past at pace, however it was long enough for me to be fairly sure it was the real Mao. I just think that if it was a waxwork I’m sure he would have been presented as less grey-haired and less jowly.
The most amazing thing about the Mausoleum of the revered father of the Chinese communist state was the back. As you are ushered out of the Mausoleum you are led into the square on the opposite side of Tian’anmen from where you entered. You are led down steps and towards the family members of the Chinese with whom you have seen Mao. Cameras are again snapping away as everyone has their photo taken leaving. Before you get into the square though you have to negotiate your way past 20 or so stalls hawking goods ranging from bilingual copies of Maos’ ‘Little Red Book of Revolutionary Thought’, gold medallions of Mao, Mao cigarettes, Mao lighters and watches where the second hand is represented by Maos’ waving arm. There were also stalls offering utterly incongruous tack, such as dolls, action man figures and wind up huskies!
Revolutionary indeed! Somewhat reminiscent too of the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy.
First things first and as the subway drops you off by Maos’ Mausoleum, it seemed only fitting that I should go and check for myself as to Maos’ state of health. It is an unusual feature of communist states that they preserve their leaders after their death and make an attraction of them in this way.
It originally stemmed from a belief that there was something unique about the brains of these great ideologues, which future technologies would better be able to evaluate and understand. Actually with Mao, the Chinese felt that there may well be great revolutionary thoughts left unsaid in Maos’ brain, which future technologies could discover for future generations. Hence Mao’s preservation in Beijing and Lenin's in Moscow.
It has to be said though that there is also a desire on the part of the Chinese to see and to honour Mao. Whatever his legacy, he is greatly revered here. From his portrait hanging in the Square to his portrait on the money, ‘The Great Helmsman’ as he was known is still a key figure in China.
I was interested in all of this and in seeing Mao too, as I’d specialised in East Asian 20th Century politics and ideologies as part of my International Politics degree. My ‘China’ Professor at University had actually met Mao in the 1960s and told us how he had swum with him and his entourage in the Yellow River… while the chain-smoker Mao did a leisurely breast stroke, puffing away on a cigarette! Yet even my enamoured Prof. would admit that Mao was the greatest butcher of the 20th Century, perhaps responsible for more deaths than Stalin and Hitler combined.
I hadn’t expected the atmosphere around the Mausoleum to be so upbeat. People from all over China come to Beijing; most aim to see Mao, and they are excited when they do so. People were dressed in their smart clothes or their state uniforms for the occasion. They had made an effort especially for Mao. Everyone in the square was keen to pose for photos and was beaming away from the thrill of standing in Tian’anmen and outside Mao's tomb. It was perhaps the first place I have travelled to in the world where I could stand un-hassled to one side, while hawkers crowded around the local Chinese in the square, offering Polaroid portraits of their moment with Mao.
Entrance is free, and after queuing briefly in the square (they shift a high volume of people through at double pace quick march, so waiting times are brief), I was ushered with a group into the Mausoleum compound where we were paused to allow visitors to buy plastic flowers from a booth to lay around the body of Mao. As well as being the only Westerner in this particular batch of Mao visitors, I was also among a minority of visitors who did not honour him in this way. Visitors are led inside in batches rather than as a constant stream, so that the plastic flowers can be cleared from the tomb and brought back out to the kiosk in a permanent cycle of sale and resale. After the flowers were bought, we were ushered up the steps of the Mausoleum, past a statue of Mao seated and looking jovial, and into the chamber where his body lay.
Initially, forgive me, I thought Maos’ body was internally lit with a light-bulb actually placed inside his head as his face glowed such an ethereal orange! On closer inspection (not that you get very close), I realised that he is carefully spot-lit. His body was draped in a Chinese flag with his head on display. The crowd is marched past at pace, however it was long enough for me to be fairly sure it was the real Mao. I just think that if it was a waxwork I’m sure he would have been presented as less grey-haired and less jowly.
The most amazing thing about the Mausoleum of the revered father of the Chinese communist state was the back. As you are ushered out of the Mausoleum you are led into the square on the opposite side of Tian’anmen from where you entered. You are led down steps and towards the family members of the Chinese with whom you have seen Mao. Cameras are again snapping away as everyone has their photo taken leaving. Before you get into the square though you have to negotiate your way past 20 or so stalls hawking goods ranging from bilingual copies of Maos’ ‘Little Red Book of Revolutionary Thought’, gold medallions of Mao, Mao cigarettes, Mao lighters and watches where the second hand is represented by Maos’ waving arm. There were also stalls offering utterly incongruous tack, such as dolls, action man figures and wind up huskies!
Revolutionary indeed! Somewhat reminiscent too of the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy.
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