Visiting the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall in Beijing China

On the southern end of Tian ̀anmon Square there are two oddities which you will see right away. First is a large perfectly square granite building surrounded by trees. Trees, in fact green anything, is not seen in Tian'anmon Square. The second oddity is a perfect queue extending from the building and wrapping itself around the building and looking as if it has no end. This is odd because in China people do not queue, they mass. Hundreds will mass to board a bus or get through an open door. You never see an orderly queue.

This queue is waiting patiently and orderly to enter The Chairman Mao Memorial Hall. Inside Mao Zedong is on display, mummified in a crystal coffin. He has been here since May 1977 a little over a year after he died. When he was alive, his wishes were seldom ignored but in death his wish to be cremated was overlooked and his body was preserved. Today it is on display from 8:00 to 12:00 daily unless he requires a touch up. The building is the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall.

We arrived at Tian'anmon Square early but the queue was already long. You are not allowed to carry anything inside the building. No lockers or provisions are provided for your personal articles. The Chinese way is to stack everything in a pile with everyone's stuff by the entrance and retrieve it after you exit. We Americans were too timid to join in on this practice so we split up into two groups. I went with my son-in-law and six-year-old grandson, while my wife and daughter held our belongings.

We located the end of the line and noticed as we walked down the line that almost all of the people on line were Chinese. There were hardly any tourists, although there were quite a few within Tian'anmon Square. We saw none of the organized tour flags with their followers which were everywhere else. We found this odd, however, the queue was long and maybe they could not spend the time.

The queue gave us ample opportunity to enjoy the people around us and for them to do the same with us. My grandson became the star of the line. A blonde hair six year old was not something they saw every day. People came up and asked to take his picture and have their picture taken with him. An entire class of high school girls each had to have their picture taken with him. He soaked up the attention and it made the time go fast.

When we reached the entrance there was very tight security with metal detectors and a pat down. The only things allowed in were flowers purchased from a vendor just outside the entrance. We were formed into three lines, we were in the outside line. Now the lines were moving quickly with guards along both side making certain we did stop or pause.

The first room we entered had a large statue of Mao Zedong seated. Behind the statue was a tapestry of China's mountains and rivers. People were allowed to step forward and lay their flowers on a pile in front of the statue. As we were there, several workers came in and scooped up the flowers, placing them back into containers which they were sold from. It appeared that when the pile of flowers became too large they picked them up and returned them outside to be resold.

The three lines quickly entered the next room which was dimly lit. In the middle was the crystal coffin displaying the body of Mao Zedong. Our line was against the wall, furthest from the coffin. When the guards noticed my grandson, they halted the lines, walked over and took his hand to lead him up to the coffin. We, of course followed him up to the front. They allowed us to stand there for about thirty seconds which was thirty seconds longer than everyone else who was being shuffled quickly past.

Chairman Mao looked good for a person dead for thirty-six years. He was wearing his traditional gray Sun Yet Sen suit. Across the lower part of his body was the Chinese Flag. On the wall facing the coffin are the words: "Long live the great leader and mentor Chairman Mao Zedong." The government has done a fine job in creating a legacy for this man who was responsible for the deaths of millions of his own citizens. I was almost hooked.

The guards put us back into the line we were moving quickly again. The next room was brightly lit and the line dissolved into a mass. The room was a souvenir shop filled with every kind of Mao Zedong memorabilia you could imagine. Capitalism meets communism.

I massed my way up to a counter to see the selection of items and purchased a clay medallion with an impression of the older Mao on one side and in English the words: "We love Mao Zedong" on the back. Then I selected a box set of golden book marks with the young Mao's face on each. They were adorned with red ribbons and set in a red gift box with Chinese writing which I cannot read. My final purchase was a woodcut reproduction of a middle aged laughing Mao. I figured now I had him covered.

If you ever get to Beijing do not miss the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall. This ranks among the top three sites I saw while in China. The building itself is magnificent and to think it was built in just a few months makes it that much more spectacular. However, for me the people made this site so memorable.

Mao Zedong was a horrible person. He forced thousands of people on a senseless march, had acts of unspeakable degradation committed on his detractors. He starved millions of his own people promoting reckless programs, and even drove his own wife insane. He was not a nice person, certainly not someone who I expected to be so revered. However, here were thousands of citizens lined up in solemn respect just for a glimpse at his body. I realized that to understand China today, you have to witness this phenomenon.