 |
| Shaoshan - Mao Zedong's Birthplace |
|
Shaoshan is about forty kilometers west of the county town of Xiangtan,
Hunan Province. It is one of the seventy-two peaks of the majestic
Mount Hengshan. According to legend, when King Yu was on his way south
to inspect the flood control projects, he stopped here and played
some ancient Shao music. The place was therefore called Shaoshan-Mount
of the Shao Music. A village called Shaoshanchong at the foot of the
mountain was where Mao Zedong (1893-1976), the late leader of China
was born and grew up. An exhibition hall memorializing Mao's life
and revolutionary activities has been built at the town of Shaoshan,
formerly Shaoshanchong Village, and is now open to visitors who can
stay at the local hotel. There are regular train and bus services
between Shaoshan and Changsha.
Shaoshan, a mountain village about 100km southwest of Changsha,
with some fairly beautiful scenery and a once typically Hunan village
atmosphere, has been irreparably changed by history. On the 26th
December 1893, a baby was born in a little house in this village,
to a relatively wealthy peasant couple. The child was to grow up
to become China's Great Helmsman, Chairman Mao Zedong, and it was
in this region that he spent his childhood and youth, attending
school and helping his father with his work.
The tourist attractions in the village are highly propagandorial,
but then this is all part and parcel of the Mao image. Loudspeakers
will great you on arrival with revolutionary songs and speeches,
the village is guarded by sleepily bored soldiers and the history
is only partially represented at best. The revolutionary tourist
attractions include the Former Residence of Mao Zedong (Mao zedong
guju), the Ancestral Temple of the Mao Family, now Comrade Mao's
Museum (Mao zedong tongzhi jinianguan), Stone Steles covered with
Mao's poems, and a Revolutionary Martyr's Cemetery. The former residence
is the most interesting. Entered through a courtyard, the house
is of a sunny yellow, mud brick walls, with a nicely thatched roof,
and is found on a wooded hillside, above some lush paddy fields.
You can visit all of the 13 rooms inside, that include a kitchen,
a dining room, three family bedrooms, a guest room and an ancestral
hall. Within the rooms are various personal effects of Mao and his
parents, as well as photos from Mao's life.
If the propaganda gets too much, the area around the village is
of the beautifully simple Hunan countryside, with small peasant
houses scattered about the stepped paddyfields and bamboo groves.
The Dripping Water Cave (Dishui dong), about 3km northwest of the
village, is a very popular destination, possibly because of the
fact that Mao allegedly spent 11 days here in the early days of
the Cultural Revolution Years (1966-76), contemplating the unknown.
Even nicer however, is the ascent to Shao Hill Peak (Shaoshan feng),
the conical hill just to the northwest of the village. From the
summit (reached on foot [1-2hrs.] or by cable car [RMB20]), you
will have some good views over the village and Hunanese countryside. |
|
