Tag Archives: great leap forward

Mao’s Bird Fetish

Chairman Mao has been dead for forty-one years. China’s glittering shopping malls, high-speed trains, ultra-modern skyscrapers, super highways, and expansive airports have transformed the Middle Kingdom into a workers’ paradise. Mao Tse-Tung’s statue overlooks Tiananmen Square with stern serenity. His followers praise him every May Day, but nothing can stop the birds from shitting on […]