Who was Mao Zedong? We see his face everywhere — on almost every piece of money, on paintings hung in restaurants, on products sold in shops, and more. Mao was the first leader of the “People’s Republic of China,” bringing the country together despite civil war that was taking place when he came into power. To many older Chinese people, Mao is a hero, and he is almost worshiped like a God. Many younger Chinese people (and foreigners) do not like Mao. He brought Communism to China and forced people to give up their religions and other traditions in order to become more modern and industrial.
If you visit China, you will see Mao EVERYWHERE. See if you can tell which of the images below are making fun of Mao, and which are showing him respect:
As the new students arrive, I am realizing just how much I’ve learned about China since I got here. And there’s so much more to do and see. Today, we did a lot of airport pick ups, but the new session and the real exploring begin again tomorrow.
Categories: China
Innovation on Earth 
That’s a lot of Mao’s!!
I’ve definitely heard of Mao before, and you’re right, he IS everywhere!!!! You’re also right about the fact that many people worship him, but some people don’t like him.
My mom says that when she was little, EVERYONE had to wear a red badge with a picture of Mao on it. The bigger the better. If you didn’t wear this badge, then you would get criticized like this, “You don’t respect Mao Zedong!” and would get sent home to put it on. In fact, the badge is in one of your pictures!! It’s the very first picture (top) in this blog post in the bottom right hand corner.
For the picture slideshow, I think the World Leader Dolls in the store window make fun of him, the picture where there’s 2 T-shirts (1 with Obama on it, and 1 with I love Beijing on it), the Chairman Meow iPhone picture, the picture with Mao’s and Obama’s slogans, and maybe the picture with Mao’s bust. All the others are respecting Mao.
Best Wishes!!
😉 ~ Anna
That is so nice that the elder have a person to look up to! ( :
it would be cool to hear different peoples opinions of mao.
wait… what does cat buttons have to do with mao
The word “Mao” also means “cat” in Mandarin.