Gold Mao

How's this for bling? An anonymous Chinese fat cat hired 20 anonymous artists to create this Gold and Jade statue of Mao Zedong set with precious stones (2013) to celebrate the 120th anniversary of Mao's birth. It took eight months to complete and cost 100 million yuan (£10.061,200). That's a few yuan for each of the estimated 15 million to 45 million Chinese who starved to death as a result of the Great Leap Forward, when peasants were moved from farms to factories and natural disasters hit the remaining crops (CLICK). Later, Mao's Cultural Revolution saw more misery and death inflicted on the people. Does a Communist dictator who caused so much suffering and death deserve to be celebrated? The statue was unveiled in Shenzhen, southern China, but will go to the Mao Zedong memorial in his birthplace Shaoshan (CLICK). The anniversary takes place on 26 December. That's Boxing Day to us.