Small things, mostly |||

Chairman Mao was a good boy (China)

In Changsha, I took a bus to Hunan Number 1 Teacher Training College. This is where Mao studied when he was younger. He was also the high school principal attached to the college.

I met some students who were eager to show me around. They showed me his classroom, the auditorium where he organized events, and the well where he took cold water baths (to build character, it seems, and he recommended this practice to others).

Along the tour, I asked the students if they knew of a place where Chairman Mao was punished for perhaps being naughty. They paused a bit to let the question sink in. They replied in unison, Chairman Mao was a good boy.”

At the edge of the campus was this statue of a sage that had become the official shoe drying spot for the students.

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