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![]() Tuesday, January 6, 1998 Published at 14:01 GMT ![]() ![]() ![]() World ![]() Crowds flock to Mao mausoleum ![]() Mao.....as popular as ever
The mausoleum of Mao Tse-tung, the founder of Communist China, was reopened on Tuesday after a nine-month closure for "interior repairs".
Hundreds of tourists queued up in Beijing's Tiananmen
Square in front of the huge marble-covered building.
Some visitors bought bouquets of plastic flowers to
leave in front of a statue of the "Great Helmsman" before entering
the inner sanctum where he lies in state.
Two hours after the reopening, an electronic screen announced
that 7,000 visitors had already paid homage to Mao, whose forces
threw out the ruling nationalists after a civil war in 1949.
Inside, they saw the embalmed body of Mao, who died on
September 9, 1976, aged 83, draped in China's red
flag with five stars.
According to one mausoleum official, the renovation work began
on April 1. The main work was to change the wallpaper and repaint
the interior.
The work had nothing to do with conserving the mummified
remains, he said. He also declined to say where Mao's body was kept during the rebuilding.
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