Little Red Book
I came to Chengdu with a single mission in mind: to pay an abhorrent sum of money to spend 5 minutes with a panda bear so I can get a cool photo. Well, things don't always go according to plan when traveling unfortunately. After getting food poisoning a day or two before in North Korea, my energy levels were quite low, and we ended up going to a park in the area to just relax and enjoy some tea to while away the afternoon.
As I discovered, there's a lot that goes on in Chinese parks. Walking around we came to this small park performance. Considering I was totally reliant on typing a few words into Google Translate and showing people the Chinese translation, I don't think I fully appreciated what was playing out in front of me, no pun intended.
The Little Red Book, as it's known in the West is formally titled, "Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung." With over a billion copies printed, it's basically the McDonald's of books, along with the ever popular Bible and Qu'ran. Its popularity is owed in great part for it being unofficially mandatory for every Chinese citizen to own, read, and carry it at all times, especially during the Cultural Revolution of the 60s and early 70s.
A woman holds a copy of the Little Red Book in a small propaganda performance.
