Analysts said such worship of Mao in China where the regime keeps a tight control on ideology, restricts free flow of information and debate of historical issues, is to be expected.
"Now people view Mao Zedong as a legendary figure like any other folk gods," said Xu Youyu (徐友漁), a philosophy professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing.
"Under a system where no debate of Mao has been allowed, their adoration comes as no surprise," Xu said.
And paradoxically, to those who were educated under communist China's atheist philosophy, Mao offers spiritual comfort.
"My mother doesn't believe in God or the Buddha, she puts all her trust in Chairman Mao all her life," said 27-year old Xiao Biqiang, an information-technology engineer, who bowed at Mao's bronze figure on behalf of his sick mother.
"It is a solace to her," he said.
RSS