Hunan, the native province of the late Chinese leader, Mao Zedong, will spend 20 million yuan to upgrade a memorial hall in his honor at his birthplace of Shaoshan, repair his former residence and his three other ancestral halls there.
Shaoshan Mao Zedong Memorial Hall, built and opened to the public in 1964, has 13 rooms, with a combined floor space of 2,000 square meters. The exhibits there include 100 pieces of Mao Zedong's manuscripts and 72 items of Mao's personal belongings.
More than 40 million visitors have visited the memorial hall since it was opened to the public.
But as time passed, the exhibits in the memorial hall have suffered serious decay, explained a local official, adding that the arrangements of the exhibits are not in a rational order.
The exhibition hall will be modernized, adding acoustics, lighting and electricity, but the architectural design of the original will be preserved, said the official.
According to the official, some new research achievements will be added to the exhibits displayed at the hall. Additionally, the surroundings of the memorial hall will be spruced up.
The upgrade and repair work will start soon and is expected to be finished before the end of next year.
(People's Daily)
