Villagers surround a Mao statue in 2008 for the 50th anniversary of Mao's visit there. The statue was demolished for industrial land usage and replaced with a taller sculpture at a nearby square in Pixian, Sichuan Province. Photo: Cheng Wenjun

Images of Mao Zedong, who sought to consolidate his power through a campaign that came to be known as the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), flooded China on various badges and covers of his Book of Quotations. During this period, a large number of Mao statues were built amid widespread admiration among Chinese people.

The first Mao statue was built by students and staff of the architecture faculty of Tsinghua University on campus, and was unveiled in September 1967. The group shared their methods in building the Mao statue with any institutions and individuals that requested them, initiating a building frenzy of statues in universities.

Mao statues enshrine the late Chairman and his authoritative power. Even today, some people, especially in Mao's home province of Hunan still burn incense and lay out offerings in front of the sculptures to pray for good fortune.

Most of the statues look alike but have subtle differences, showing him either waving a hand or holding his hands behind his back.

Mao statues were well maintained and respected around China before many of them were dismantled after the Cultural Revolution, especially during the wave of real estate development that swept Chinese cities.

During the process, the statue in Tsinghua was torn down to allow the reconstruction of a destroyed campus gate.

Photographer Cheng Wenjun started traveling around China and taking pictures of Mao's statues in 1997, and has shot more than 200 to date.

Global Times

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A cement and steel Mao statue at a power plant in Duyun, Guizhou Province, in this picture taken in October 2007, awaits dismantlement as a result of urban development. Photo: Cheng Wenjun

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Smoke from incense and firecrackers set off by worshippers surround a Mao statue in Huangshi, Hubei Province, on December 26, 2007, Mao's 114's birth anniversary. Photo: Cheng Wenjun

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A wooden Mao statue is built in front of the home of Yang Chuan, in Wenfoshan village, Yichang, Hubei Province.Photo: Cheng Wenjun

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A Mao statue at East China Normal University in Shanghai. About one-third of the remaining Mao statues in China are on university campuses. Photo: Cheng Wenjun

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Snow covers a statue of Mao in front of a bath house, formerly the Worker's Palace in Fushun, Liaoning Province. Photo: Cheng Wenjun