‘Long live Chairman Mao’: Supporters pay respects to founder of Communist China

Fifty years after his passing, devoted admirers of the Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong arrived in his hometown on September 9, 2026, to pay their respects. On the eve of the 50th commemoration of his demise, they gathered at the Bronze Statue Square in Shaoshan, a town nestled in Hunan Province, central China. The square served as the site of a towering 10-meter bronze statue of Mao.

Photographs taken by Hector Retamal for AFP captured the scene. Diehard supporters of the founder of the People's Republic of China lined up in orderly queues to show their devotion. Some visitors carried portraits of Mao, Chinese flags, and elaborate floral arrangements. Others knelt reverently before the statue, while a group of 1,000 enthusiasts held a solemn ceremony, brandishing relics from a bygone era, including photographs of Mao and copies of the "Little Red Book," a collection of his most famous sayings.

The crowd chanted "Long live Chairman Mao!" as they sang revolutionary songs. Shaoshan, Mao's birthplace, had become a popular destination for "red tourism," as state media promoted it. Visitors flocked to Mao's childhood home, where they marveled at the simple rice paddies that he had labored in during his youth. A local resident, 63-year-old Jing Shiming, expressed his admiration for Mao's transformative impact on China, stating that the nation had blossomed from a destitute and backward state into a "prosperous and strong nation" under his leadership.

Despite the growing nostalgia for Mao's ideals, some historians caution that his policies also led to mass starvation and millions of deaths.