{"id":179188,"date":"2016-01-05T14:00:08","date_gmt":"2016-01-05T14:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=179188"},"modified":"2016-01-05T14:00:08","modified_gmt":"2016-01-05T14:00:08","slug":"chinese-villagers-build-giant-golden-statue-of-chairman-mao","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/01\/chinese-villagers-build-giant-golden-statue-of-chairman-mao\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese villagers build giant golden statue of Chairman Mao"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nearly 40 years after the death of China\u2019s \u201cGreat Helmsman\u201d a gigantic golden statue of Chairman Mao has been erected in rural China by admiring business people and villagers.<\/p>\n

The 36 metre tall mega-Mao, which reportedly cost 3m yuan (about \u00a3312,000), towers over Tongxu county near the city of Kaifeng in Henan province.<\/p>\n

Chinese media reports say the statue is built from steel and concrete and decorated in gold-coloured paint.<\/p>\n

Mao Zedong, who ruled China until his death in September 1976, has been blamed for the deaths of tens of millions of Chinese citizens when his \u201cGreat Leap Forward\u201d push for breakneck industrialisation caused a calamitous famine.<\/p>\n

Henan province, still one of China\u2019s poorest regions, was one of the areas worst hit by the famine, which some believe claimed up to 45 million lives.<\/p>\n