Massive crowd celebrates 130th anniversary of Chairman Mao Zedong's birth
Over 111,000 people visited Chairman Mao Zedong's hometown of Shaoshan, Hunan province, from 6 am on Monday to 5 pm on Tuesday to commemorate the 130th anniversary of his birth. This number was a 713 percent increase from last year, according to local authorities.
Mao was born on Dec 26, 1893, in Shaoshan village, Shaoshan city, Hunan province. He left Shaoshan at the age of 17.
The number of tourists visiting Shaoshan city from Monday to Tuesday also increased by almost 14 percent from 2019, the authorities said.
Tourism revenue during the two days reached 94.39 million yuan ($13.2 million), an increase of 708 percent from the same period last year and 13 percent from 2019, they said.
Local authorities organized various activities to commemorate the special event.
Almost 4,000 people from across the country participated in a running event on Monday morning in Shaoshan. It was first hosted in 1983, making this year the 40th event.
