Mao Zedong supporters mark 50th anniversary of death

Supporters of Mao Zedong gathered in his hometown of Shaoshan on Wednesday to mark 50 years since the death of the founder of the People's Republic of China.

Visitors lined up in central Hunan province to bow, observe silence and leave chrysanthemum wreaths, bottles of Chinese alcohol and cigarettes at the foot of a 10-metre bronze statue of Mao. Police kept queues moving as tourists posed for photos in the square.

The night before, around 1,000 admirers held a ceremony at the statue. Some wore Mao-style tunic suits and carried portraits of the leader and copies of the "Little Red Book", while the group chanted "Long live Chairman Mao" and sang revolutionary songs.

Mao died on September 9, 1976. Shaoshan, where he was born in December 1893, has become a centre of communist-history tourism promoted by Chinese state media.

Several visitors told AFP they had come to honour Mao's legacy. Deng, a 28-year-old tourist, said the 50th anniversary was "something that only comes around once in a lifetime". Jing Shiming, 63, said Mao and leaders of his generation had transformed China.

Mao remains a central symbol of the Chinese Communist Party, with his portrait on banknotes and overlooking Tiananmen Square in Beijing. His time in power also included the Great Leap Forward famine and the Cultural Revolution, which the party has acknowledged as a "mistake".