A stone statue of the late Chinese leader Mao Zedong in his youth stands on the Orange Isle, or Juzizhou, in Changsha, Central China’s Hunan Province. Photo: CFP

A discussion group reading Selected Works of Mao Zedong together has been formed on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo, where netizens pick out and post their favorite content from the book to share with others, many of whom are of younger generations, post- 1990s or 2000s.

Mao's thoughts and views have become popular among Chinese young people. Some Sina Weibo posts display photos of young people reading the book and comments under these posts write that they are of the same generation.

"The book has great parts and I can learn something useful from it. Why not read it? Reading books is better than playing online games," one netizen Cincyhuaer wrote on Sina Weibo.

A group for reading the book together has been established on Sina Weibo. The first post under the hashtag "reading 'Selected Works of Mao Zedong' together" was uploaded in November.

Netizens who join the group pick out the parts they like and upload the original words, as well as their own notes, online to communicate with other members.

They also record how many days they have consecutively read the book, with many having read it for 46 days.

"As long as they are not the ones who insist on mistakes, we should not laugh at them, or even be hostile to them, just because we see their one side," one netizen picked this part from the book as they found it intellectually deep and reflective. This quote was originally part of a speech given by Mao at a forum on literature and art that was held in Yan'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, in 1942. 

A reader of the book surnamed Wan, 26, told the Global Times that some of the book's contents can inspire her. "Several college lessons also talk about Mao's views. I think they are useful to solve problems and confusions in life."

A 24-episode TV drama The Long March, which debuted in 2001, tells of a military strategic retreat undertaken by the Red Army of the Communist Party of China traversing more than 9,000 kilometers to preserve the army's power. The drama's ranking on media review platforms has been found to rise after the formation of the new Sina Weibo group.

On Douban, China's major media review platform among young people, the drama was ranked at 7.5/10 before, but some netizens discovered that its mark has risen to 8.3/10, according to a guancha.cn report.

"The red classic drama has been hailed by more and more younger audiences," a netizen commented. 

Saturday was the 127th anniversary of the birth of Chairman Mao Zedong. Chinese people paid tribute to the leader in many different ways.