Shaoshan is a small city in China's Hunan province, famous for being the birthplace of dictator and Chinese icon Mao Zedong. Shaoshan was a small farming town in records dating back to the early Qing Dynasty. Mao Zedong, later to be known as Chairman Mao was born in a farming house there on December 26, 1893 to a wealthy farming family. He left the city in his early years but came back as leader for a week in 1966 to hold a conference in the purpose-built facility at Water Dripping Cave. Shaoshan has become a destination of pilgrimage to visit the roots of the defining figure of 20th Century Chinese history, and in turn those of the Communist Party.

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What to see in Shaoshan

• Chairman Mao's birthplace and childhood home- Complete with English information and period furniture, and manageable crowds if you come at the right time. 60RMB
• Chairman Mao Museum, a meticulous documentation of the Mao's early years and the early years of the Chinese People's Revolution, and a vague documentation of the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. Free.
• Mao Memorial Park--interesting if you read Chinese, a nice park if you don't.
• Water Dripping Cave- A purpose-built conference center used by Mao for a week in 1966, now an amusing museum exhibiting memorabilia such as the ping-pong table he used during his stay there
• 25 foot Bronze Statue of Mao Zedong in Mao Zedong

  Sculpture Square is located in Xiangtan County of Hunan Province, located in the heart of Mao Zedong Memorial Hall and open before. Surrounded by pine bamboo trees, mountains arch protection. Tall bronze body statue, body robust, yet smiling and meditation, succeeded in shaping leaders at the founding ceremony of great style.
  Mao Cultural Hall is a shrine built in the mid-Qing Dynasty , which belongs to the family of Mao worship their ancestors and sages place. Total Shaoshan Mao family ancestral temple, built in 1758, built in 1763. Department of Architecture, brick, brick tiles, floor area of about 700 square meters. Hall door head, “Mao Ancestral Hall” words.Shek Kwu stand each of the side of the gate.