Years after his death and despite the coming of capitalism, Chairman Mao’s birthplace is still a major tourist attraction
CHINA has fascinated me since my first visit to the country, in 1969, during the Cultural Revolution period. Luckily, the country has invitingly called me many times and I have responded to the call, to explore its countless wonders and splendours.
Every time the experience has been different; always unique and rewarding. This time I was in Wuhan, capital of the Hubei province. Located on the famous Yangtze River, Wuhan is the seventh largest city in China mainland and the biggest inland port of Grand Canal System of the Yangtze. While in Wuhang, having travelled at a distance of 2,625 kilometres from Beijing, I could fairly visualize the vast Chinese territory across the country.
We were visiting the site of the under-construction gigantic Three Gorges Dam Project; the most complicated construction project in the world’s hydroelectric history when I was told that this is the celebrated location of the famous swim of Chairman Mao Zedong, the paramount Chinese leader, at the age of 70, across the waters of the Yangtze. Fascinated with the fact that Mao Zedong’s birthplace was located in the neighbouring province, I decided to visit Changsha, on the weekend.
Accompanied by the hosts, I undertook the journey by train, which being affordable and most reliable, is the primary mode of travel. Wuhan railway station was as crowded as any other major station in China. As the major railroad links the province to all directions nationwide, there were many passengers and goods trains at the station — electrified modern trains to steam locomotives. Indeed, China is a country of contrasts -- modern and ancient, old and new, whatever the activity.
Crossing various platforms we reached the designated one from where we boarded a first-class air-conditioned compartment, with comfortable seats and clean linen. It was an express train, known as ‘Jing-Guang’, that connects Beijing with Guangzhou, running at a speed of about 200-kilometre per hour, Wuhan and Changsha being its important stops. Daytime journey to Changsha lasted several hours and provided wonderful rural landscape and eye-catching scenery. All along one could witness the fast and impressive growth China has achieved in recent years. Indeed, the country is progressing at a fast pace, changing almost every moment. I could see numerous construction workers busy at various sites erecting bridges, laying rail tracks and repairing railroads. The railway network is developing rapidly, as billions of dollars are being invested to construct and upgrade the railway network, with focus on domestic routes. I was told that a 455-km long passenger-dedicated double-track electrified railway line was under construction that would connect, on its completion, 16 counties of neighbouring Shaanxi and Henan provinces.
Changsha, the capital city of Hunan province, widely considered as most scenic of all the 23 provinces, provides a fascinating history and tradition. Having an area of about 12,000 sq.km and with a population of less than six million inhabitants, Changsha, originally known as Qingyanag, has a history of over three thousand years. The city, located on the ancient trade route, remained for long both the hub of commerce and industry, and at the same time, a literary, cultural and educational centre. During the Han Dynasty it was the capital of Kingdom Changsha, until the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty (221-206BC) unified China, creating the Changsha prefecture.
Changsha, which means the “long sand isle”, derived from an island in the Xiang River, was severely damaged during the Second Sino-Japanese war (1937-1945) and rebuilt in subsequent years. However, its main tourist attraction is the nearby village of Shaoshan, the birthplace of Mao Zedong (1893-1976), the great visionary and at the same time an accomplished realist, who studied in Changsha during 1913-1918 and returned as a teacher during 1920-1922 to start his political career. Young Mao is said to have created a poem in the local Yuelu Park in 1920, depicting an all-Red China. Achieving major successes, it was on the first day of October 1949 that Mao Zedong proclaimed founding of the People’s Republic of China at Tiananmen Square in Beijing. During the Cultural Revolution days, millions of Chinese thronged Changsha every year, a pilgrimage for Mao’s devotees. Even today, hundreds visit Changsha to join locals on Mao’s birthday celebrations in December and also during holidays.
The heritage museum buildings consists of the 13-room ancestral home, the place where Mao grew up, a memorial exhibition and a library. Changsha is also the birthplace of Yang Kaihui, the first wife of Mao Zedong and many literary and political figures of the past, as well as that of present times, such as Zhu Rongji, Prime Minister of China until March 2003.
A focal point for any visitor is the Hunan Provincial Museum that has a vast and captivating collection of treasures from the Ma-Wangdui tombs located in northeast of Changsha. These cultural relics of outstanding quality and rarity belonged to the cemetery of the western Han Dynasty (206BC to AD8) — the most important archaeological excavation of early seventies in China. The priceless antiquities, more than one-hundred thousand in number, include stone implements, weapons, musical instruments, carved figures and other objects made of porcelain, ceramic and bronze. The exquisite relics include printed and painted silk robes, silk paintings, embroideries, painted lacquers, and carved-painted wooden coffin boxes, which epitomize the glorious civilization, in particular the Chinese art and craft, of that period.
The finest collection of the museum is the remarkably well-preserved mummified corpse of Lady Xin-Zui, wife of Chancellor Li Tsang, that remained buried for over two thousand years. Still, the body, which was wrapped in twenty layers of silk, has retained its flesh, teeth and structure, and skin tissues maintain certain elasticity to the extent that her fingerprints remain clearly visible. A section of the museum is devoted to the life and works of Mao Zedong. His portrait, quotations and posters relating to the Cultural Revolution era decorates the area.
The other attractions of Changsha are 296-meter high Yuelu hill that offers a panoramic view, the beautiful Dongtinghu Lake, the exotic temple, Lushan and the picturesque Liuyanghe River, whereas the mighty Yangze River touches the borders of the city.
As a result of implementation of a massive modernization and development plan of the government, Changsha is fast transforming into a modern industrial city, yet retaining distinct identity and appeal of its own.
Recently, special economic zones were established and dedicated for investment in new and high technologies such as microelectronics, bioengineering, advanced materials and emerging sources of energy. Understandably, the zones are attracting huge foreign and domestic capital investments.
Years after his death and despite the coming of capitalism, Chairman Mao’s birthplace is still a major tourist attraction
