Saturday, May 31, 2014

water village and mao's mausoleum

My two topics of research were the water village and Mao's Mausoleum and both far and away exceeded my expectations. Mao's Mausoleum was so incredibly crowded that I was more stunned by those who chose to visit him in respect than by his actual corpse. Also, I found it oddly creepy that we visited a corpse and that so many other people wanted to visit a corpse. Even thoug I understand that he's a national hero, I don't think I would want to see someone like Abraham Lincoln's corpse, even though I have an ardent admiration for him. That, I believe, is the difference between the two cultures of our countries. Where my grandparents have great admiration for someone like Lincoln, Jeffrey's parents probably have adoration for Mao, and I think that comes from years of not only listening to official government repertoire, but active brainwashing.
The water village, on the other hand, seemed to be mostly a tourist trap and not really that historically significant, but such a beautiful spot to sightsee.

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