Mausoleum of Mao Zedong or the Mao Mausoleum, officially called the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall, is a mausoleum located in the middle of Tiananmen Square, to the south of the Monument to the People’s Heroes, in Beijing, the capital of China. It is the final resting place of Mao Zedong (Great Helmsman), Chairman of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China from 1943 and the Chairman of the Communist Party of China from 1945 until his death on September 9, 1976.
I went here at 12:50 p.m. on July 6, 2012. This was during my third time in China, the first foreign country on my list.
Mausoleum of Mao Zedong
Two months after Mao’s death, the mausoleum’s construction began on November 24, 1976 on the previous site of the Gate of China, the southern (main) gate of the Imperial City during the Ming and Qing dynasties.
People line up for hundreds of meters every day to see the remains of Mao Zedong (though some claim this is a wax sculpture placed over the actual body) inside a crystal coffin, many paying tribute to him with flowers that can be purchased at the entrance on the north side. There is a souvenir shop at the exit on the south side.
Mausoleum of Mao Zedong
Tiananmen Square, Beijing
China