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As the ruling Chinese Communist Party marks its 90th birthday, Peter Foster reports from the megacity of Chongqing. #
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It might seem odd that a man responsible for the starvation of more than 30 million people could be chosen to promote a restaurant, but there is no mistaking the avuncular features of Mao Zedong staring from the portrait above the entrance to the "Red Leader" Hot Pot eatery. 9T;>gm
"Comrades! Welcome Comrades!" breezes a pretty hostess dressed up as one of Chairman Mao's Red Guards, complete with armband and Mao lapel badge. 5[g&0
She is, of course, far too young to remember the Cultural Revolution, the Mao-inspired political civil war of 1966-1976 that tore her parents' generation apart. Back then "comrade" was the standard form of address; today it is only used by young Chinese as slang for "gay". R?{_Q<17
Welcome, then, to China 2011: a country of such abiding contradictions that the ruling Communist Party's darkest moment can be the subject of a vapid theme-restaurant, even as a battle rages between conservatives and reformers over the country's political direction. t=lDN'\P
Today the party that Mao brought to power will mark its 90th birthday, celebrating its founding by a small group of revolutionaries in Shanghai in 1921 with an outpouring of "Red" propaganda. Groups of party faithful will gather to sing "Red" songs; cinemas will show the state's latest star-studded propaganda epic, The Founding of a Party, while newspapers and television stations will lionise the party's achievements. <
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This revival of the cult of Mao finds its apogee in the steaming southern megacity of Chongqing, whose charismatic Communist Party leader, Bo Xilai, has mounted a campaign to paint the city "Red". Party cadres have gathered to sing rousing old party songs, citizens have been bombarded with millions of text messages carrying selected Mao bon mots, and the city's satellite television station broadcasts only improving red-themed programmes. v$\<L|
It is difficult to know how seriously to take China's red revival. Like the idea of a Cultural Revolution-themed restaurant – could the world imagine an Auschwitz Café? – to Western eyes the campaigns are almost beyond parody. It seems the young – when they are not waiting tables dressed as Red Guards – are either openly scornful or just plain uninterested. ]U@~vA#''
"Honestly, I don't like all that 'Red' stuff," says 18-year-old Han Yutong, who dreams of being a television anchorwoman. "I think it's just for show, just a propaganda exercise for the party." "}
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"To be honest, Mao doesn't mean much to me," agrees a 26-year-old diner looking up at a life-sized portrait of the late Chairman. "You should ask our parents about him, they remember the Cultural Revolution. Mao's just a national leader. He's not good, not bad." ^vm6JWwN0B
"Was it really 30 million that died in the famine [of 1959-61]? I never heard about that," adds Luo Dong, a 19-year-old, looking vaguely troubled as he dunks another slice of beef into a pot of bubbling oil. "But then I did study sciences. I want to be an environmentalist." _G)A$6weU
To listen to their blasé responses, you could be forgiven for thinking that the resurgence of the red Left was a theatrical irrelevance put on by the state. But to others, the revival reflects an ideological battle behind the scenes among the political elite, pitting those – like Mr Bo – who want to see the Communist state forcefully reassert its grip on power, against more liberal, reforming forces. R|@~<