Posted on 10/21/2005 4:19:04 PM PDT by churchillbuff
BEIJING (Reuters) - Late Chairman Mao Zedong is experiencing a revival in northeast China, but in an unlikely role -- as a wedding MC.
Li Shouxin, an actor in his 50s and dead-ringer for Mao in a trademark blue suit, was in great demand among soon-to-be-weds in Changchun, Jilin province, and played the part at an average five to six weddings a month, the China Daily said Friday.
"At weddings, Li begins with a typical Mao-style wave to guests before greeting people in the strong Hunan brogue of the leader's home province," the report said.
"He then invites the happy couples' parents to speak and tells anecdotes about the newly weds."
Li charged 500 yuan per appearance, which included a rendition of the revolutionary tune and paean to Mao "The East is Red," the paper said.
Mao, the founder of modern China, is still widely revered in China despite having engineered the Great Leap Forward, which led to famine that claimed millions of lives in the late 1950s, and the chaotic 1966-76 Cultural Revolution.
The standard line in China is that Mao did 70 percent right and 30 percent wrong.
While Li has proved popular, not everyone in Changchun is taken with the idea of the Great Helmsman as wedding MC.
"Chairman Mao is my most respected person," 69-year-old Ren Shuzhen was quoted as saying.
"To dress up in his image and preside over weddings hurts people's feelings toward the great man."
"I now pronounce you Worker and Peasant"
They all look alike to me. (Just kidding! But I just HAD to say it.)
LOL...."Mousey Tongue" lookalike.
ROFL!!!
Can he sing "feelings"?
What has the world come to when the great helmsman is now an entertainment piece. LOL.
What has the world come to when the great helmsman is now an entertainment piece. LOL.
I can only hope X42, the great Klintigula, will someday
open a wedding chapel with a drive thru in Las Vegas.
There performing weddings in an Elvis wig and sequined
white jump suit (a size too small), he will be helped
by his wife/witness who when he askes if there is anyone
who knows why this couple should not be joined in matrimony
will say, "I don't remember, your honor.".
Oh come on! No photos to post?!?!
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