10 Reactions Everyone Has Visiting World Famous Places
9. Is A Dead Body Really Worth A Two Hour Wait?
Landmark/Attraction: Mausoleum of Mao Zedong Location: Beijing, China Designer/Artist: Hua Guofeng Completed: 1977 If you ever wanted to see what a dead body looks like almost fifty years since it died, then Beijing is the place to go. You can pay a visit to Mao Zedong himself, who was embalmed, preserved, and put on display (against the man's own wishes; Mao wanted to be cremated). Since there are no cameras allowed inside (and the Red Army is not to be screwed with), there hasn't been a public photo taken of the corpse since the late 70's. If you want to take a look, the Mausoleum is only open six days a week, for three to four hours in the morning. You may have to wait up to two hours in the sweltering, China heat. And according to eyewitnesses, Mao's not looking to hot these days he's very waxy looking, and some people even question if it's still the real body.
Kevin is an AP English Language teacher and freelance writer from Queens, NY. His focus is on American pop culture and American issues. He wrote a weekly column for Complex called "Throwback Thursdays," which spotlighted video games and trends from previous console generations. Kevin has also been published in VIBE, Salon, PopMatters, Joystiq, and Racialicious. Follow him on Twitter to learn more.
