Beijing Attractions
Visitors queuing for Mausoleum
Chairman Mao Mausoleum
Although Chairman Mao Zedong requested to be cremated it was
decided hours after his death in 1976, that he would be embalmed.
Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
from 1945 until his death, it is said that after his death doctors
reportedly pumped him so full of formaldehyde that his body swelled
excessively. After draining the corpse and getting it back to a
suitable state, they created a wax model of Mao Zedong, lest his
body wouldn't recuperate. It is unknown today, which version of the
Great Helmsman is on display at the Mausoleum at any given time.
The Mausoleum itself was built in 1977, on the prior site of the
Gate of China, the main gate of the Imperial City during the Ming
and Qing dynasties.
Address: South end of Tiananmen Square;
Admission: Free
