The much-publicized, once-in-a-decade handover at the upper reaches of the Chinese Communist Party has been accompanied by a re-emergence of Chairman Mao's revolutionary imagery. Here are five places steeped in Chinese political culture, including the Road to Redemption exhibition at the National Museum of China, the Red Capital Club where the staff wear Mao Suits, and Panjiayuan Market where you can search for Cultural Revolution era memorabilia.
Pictured: Panjiayuan Market – Courtesy of iwanwalsh via flickr
Memorial Hall of Chairman Mao
The Memorial Hall, Mao Zedong's final resting place, is an austere granite-fronted building in Tiananmen Square surrounded by Socialist-Realist statues depicting Communist revolutionary scenes. Some 36 years after his death, long lines of people wait each morning to view Mao's (some say plasticized) body, which lies in state in the Hall of Mourning. One of Mao's poems, Reply to Comrade Gao Moruo, covers one of the white marble walls. Entrance is free, but showing your passport is required.
Open daily 8:30 am to 11 am; and October through April Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays 2 pm to 4 pm.
Pictured: Memorial Hall of Chairman Mao – Courtesy of Chris Wilkinson via flickr
Red Capital Club
Tucked down a hutong alley, Red Capital Club is a courtyard restaurant and bar styled with 1950s political posters and Mao memorabilia, including a telephone playing the recorded voice of the Chairman. Guests are served Zhongnanhai cuisine (named after the Chinese leadership's Beijing compound), including The Chairman's Favorite (Hongshaorou red roasted pork) washed down with a Long March cocktail (Gin, Campari, Grenadine, and Chinese Cassia Flower Wine). If you want to make the Mao experience last all night, the Club's retro-styled sister hotel Red Capital Residence is nearby. Here you can kick back in a Mao-era underground bomb shelter restyled as a cigar and wine lounge with scarlet lanterns, Cultural Revolution imagery, and wait staff in Mao suits.
Daily from 6 pm to 11 pm.
Pictured: The Chairman's Favorite – Courtesy of Red Capital Club
The Road of Rejuvenation
The world's largest museum, the National Museum of China, reopened in 2011 after a four-year renovation. Its signature exhibition narrates Chinese history through the eyes of the Communist Party. Using photographs, paintings, and film footage, the sections covering the troubled century from the 1840 Opium War to the Chinese civil war are somberly cast in gray and white paneling. By contrast, an explosion of bright red accompanies Mao's Communist Revolution. The subsequent Great Revival section colorfully charts China's achievements since 1949—and carefully sidesteps the Cultural Revolution and 1989 Tiananmen Square protests—culminating in Beijing's hosting of the 2008 Olympics and the Chinese Space program.
Open Tuesdays through Sundays 9 am to 5 pm.
Pictured: National Museum of China – Courtesy of Simon Law via flickr
Panjiayuan Market
A popular weekend hangout for locals and visitors, Panjiayuan Market is vast with around 3,000 merchants. Some shoppers come to the flea market in search of authentic antiques or aged ceramics, others to buy contemporary Chinese art, hand carved furniture, and jade jewelry. But it's impossible to miss the Maomorabilia: Posters, pins, and black and white photos of the former leader are liberally stacked beside copies of Mao's Little Red Book. Adding a contemporary touch, t-shirts, bags, and leather wallets are stylistically daubed with his portrait and political slogans.
Open Mondays through Fridays 8:30 am to 6 pm, Saturdays and Sundays 4:30 am to 6 pm.
Pictured: Panjiayuan Market – Courtesy of Kurt Groetsch
Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution
Nationalism is center stage at the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution, which details 4,000 years of Chinese weaponry and military campaigns. A gold star—the emblem of China's People's Liberation Army—crowns the building. A large statue of Chairman Mao and framed portraits of the four paramount leaders (Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, and Hu Jintao), greet visitors in the entrance hall. Inside, four levels of military history culminate in an eye-catching hangar exhibition of modern warfare, including MiG jet fighters, Chinese ground-to-air missiles, Zhou Enlai's former airplane, Mao's limo (gifted by Stalin), and U.S. tanks captured during the Korean War.
Open daily 8:30 am to 4 pm.
Pictured: Military Museum of China – Courtesy of Peregrinari via flickr
5 attractions steeped in Chinese political culture