One of the strange realities of modern China is that Mao’s image, which hangs over the main gate into the Forbidden City, is still evident in lots of places. The horrors of the Cultural Revolution are part of Mao’s identity — and yet there is still more reverence of him than I’d expect.
But the person who really launched the economically ascendant and powerful China is Deng Xiaoping, who has statues in some places, but is relatively invisible here compared to Mao. Everyone though knows how important Deng was to China’s rise.
The pic above is the gate to the late Deng Xiaoping’s compound.
A friend of mine knocked on one of the doors to the compound in 1990 because he wanted to meet Deng. He was met by intimidating soldiers with machine guns telling him to go away. Of course he was. I have no idea what my friend was thinking.
— Steve Clemons
