--FILE--Vue de l'ancienne résidence de l'ancien dirigeant chinois Mao Zedong à Shaoshan, Xiangtan ville, province de Hunan, Chine centrale, 13 décembre 2013.
--FILE--View of the former residence of former Chinese leader Mao Zedong in Shaoshan, Xiangtan city, central Chinas Hunan province, 13 December 2013. Mao Zedong was born to a rural family in Shaoshan on December 26, 1893, and the small town has undergone a huge revamp to prepare for celebration of the 120th anniversary of his birth throughout the mainland on Thursday (26 December 2013). The Xiangtan municipal government, which administers Shaoshan, has spent more than 1.9 billion yuan available on a number of projects for the celebrations, including street performances, clean-ups at tourist attractions and upgrading infrastructure in the area. In Mao Zedong Square, at the heart of Shaoshan, workers could be seen in recent days working day and night fixing pavements. The old building at the Shaoshan Mao Zedong Memorial Museum has been closed for more than a year for a massive upgrade, but the section housing Maos personal belongings remains open for the celebrations. Large numbers of tourists have also flocked to Mao Zedong Square in the centre of Shaoshan, queueing in the freezing cold for their turn to lay bouquets in front of a giant bronze statute of the former Communist Party leader.
