{"id":1557,"date":"2016-01-05T11:41:26","date_gmt":"2016-01-05T11:41:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.uk\/blog\/?p=1557"},"modified":"2016-08-19T15:51:19","modified_gmt":"2016-08-19T14:51:19","slug":"giant-golden-statue-of-chairman-mao-is-built","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.uk\/blog\/china\/giant-golden-statue-of-chairman-mao-is-built\/","title":{"rendered":"Giant Golden Statue of Chairman Mao is Built"},"content":{"rendered":"

A giant golden statue of Chairman Mao – China’s founding father – has been erected in\u00a0the countryside of\u00a0Henan province.<\/p>\n

Standing at over 37 metres tall near\u00a0Kaifeng city and built by a group of local villagers and business people, the golden statue is reported to have cost over 3 million Yuan (around $460,000), taken over nine months to finish and built with steel and concrete, finished with vivid gold paint. It depicts Chairman Mao in a seated position with his hands resting on his lap, looking out over the Chinese countryside.<\/p>\n

\"chairman<\/a>

The giant statue of Chairman Mao in Henan province. Photograph: China Stringer Network\/Reuters<\/p><\/div>\n

Photographs of the statue\u00a0spread quickly\u00a0on the Chinese internet this week after being published by a Henan news website<\/a>. It may be that the statue is an effort to bring tourism to the area for those who are looking to book\u00a0China holidays<\/a>, as the province\u00a0is famous for the Longmen Grottoes, as visited on our Ancient China tour<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mao’s “Great Leap Forward”<\/h2>\n

Chairman Mao is still widely\u00a0admired across China, 40 years after his death. His face appears on banknotes and on many national monuments, including Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. His mausoleum in the square is one of China’s most visited attractions, commanding large queues and weeping citizens as they gaze upon his mummified body.<\/p>\n

His fast-paced economic policies for the sake of industrialisation, known as the Great Leap Forward, pushed much of China into famine in the late 1950s, especially in Henan province where the statue is based. It’s still one of China’s most poverty stricken\u00a0areas and users on Weibo, China’s micro blog version of Twitter, have been quick to criticise its location, according to the Daily Mail<\/a>. Others have said that the statue’s\u00a0face is not to his likeness.<\/p>\n

However, his legacy is enjoying something of a revival under Chinese President Xi Jinping, as stated by The Guardian<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

\"brochure_btn\"<\/a> Go on a China Tour<\/a>,\u00a0with the UK’s leading China Experts, Wendy Wu Tours. Our award winning escorted, fully inclusive tours visit all the major sights of China for an unforgettable holiday.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We also have amazing holidays\u00a0to Vietnam, Japan, Cambodia, Laos, India and beyond…<\/p>\n

\n

Image Credit:<\/strong>\u00a0China Stringer Network\/Reuters. Top Banner – Imaginechina\/Rex\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A giant golden statue of Chairman Mao – China’s founding father – has been erected in\u00a0the countryside of\u00a0Henan province.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1565,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[25,20],"yoast_head":"\nGiant Chairman Mao Statue is Built<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A giant golden statue reaching 37 metres tall of Chairman Mao, China's founding father, has been erected in the countryside of Henan province\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.uk\/blog\/china\/giant-golden-statue-of-chairman-mao-is-built\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Giant Chairman Mao 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