Chairman Mao Memorial Hall (Maozhuxi Jiniantang)
Chairman Mao Memorial Hall (Maozhuxi Jiniantang)
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The remains of one of China’s most famous rulers, Chairman Mao, rest in this simple mausoleum, which features 44 granite columns and glazed yellow trim.
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- Wangfujing • 7 min walk
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
4.0
391 reviews
Excellent
103
Very good
147
Average
99
Poor
30
Terrible
12
KodoDrummer
Buenos Aires, Argentina70,626 contributions
Dec 2019
Chairman Mao Memorial Hall is in the centre of Beijing's top attraction and next to the seat of China's government building and the National Museum of China. Then across the square, there is The Forbidden City. A man most remembered for being the founder or key figure in forming the building blocks for present day China.
Written December 16, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
KodoDrummer
Buenos Aires, Argentina70,626 contributions
Jan 2019 • Solo
I tried to visit at about 1:15 pm on a Friday in January 2019, and all I got to see was the outside of the building and two very nice statues. The Memorial Hall was totally fenced off and there were many security guards around the property. No visitors were allowed entry.
Written January 19, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
HannahCharnock
Sucre, Bolivia203 contributions
It's free to see the mummified Mao although there are pretty rigorous security checks to go through before you're permitted to join the queue that snakes around Ti'ananmen Square from 8am. These start at the tube station (all Beijing metro stations have scanners your bags have to go through before you can get on the train); then you have to leave your bag and camera in a locker room (which you are frisked at upon entering and then your bag is scanned before you can deposit it); once bagless you are again scanned and frisked before entering Ti'ananmen Square; then you can finally join the queue, but once close to the Memorial Hall doors your ID is checked, you're scanned and frisked once more, and politely asked to remove your hat out of respect, to switch off your phone, refrain from bringing in cups of drink, guns or ammunition, and to please not indulge in horseplay when inside the hall. Once inside you are shuffled past a huge white sculpture of the Chairman surrounded by a load of fresh cut white flowers in the North Hall, before being led into the solemn 'Hall of Last Respects' where the big man lies in a huge crystal-topped casket. You can't see him quite as close up as Lenin, and there is less to see (just his head, the rest is all covered by a big hammer and sickle flag - no dirty fingernails on show) although what is visible looks even waxier than Lenin.
You get a total of about 5 seconds in the room as everyone is shuffled out very efficiently, although we got a special treat of witnessing a change of guard goosestepping in our 5 seconds, lucky us.
You get a total of about 5 seconds in the room as everyone is shuffled out very efficiently, although we got a special treat of witnessing a change of guard goosestepping in our 5 seconds, lucky us.
Written November 3, 2010
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Aleksandra O
3 contributions
May 2024 • Couples
You can not enter without the reservation through WeChat which you can not do without the Chinese phone number. No information about this anywhere in the internet. We’ve been there 2nd of May and while checking, the tickets were sold out for the next whole week (reservation can be done only a week in advance apparently).
Written May 1, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dragonscreen
Beijing45 contributions
Located in an ugly building that destroys the geomantic integrity of the original plan built against the specific instructions of the Chairman himself. Contains waxy figure purported the poorly embalmed corpse of the Great Helmsman. Popular with pilgrims from the countryside where Mao continues to be deified. May be of interest to foreign morticians.
Written March 27, 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Stuart D
Dartmouth, MA85 contributions
Feb 2017 • Family
There are conflicting reviews regarding long lines, or no lines. Here is what I think is the answer. Hours are 8AM - Noon. Before the Memorial Hall opens incredibly long lines form of almost all Chinese nationals, but by 9:30 lines shorten considerably......but here's the conundrum - you also have to line up to pass security to get into Tiananmen Square, where the earlier you go the shorter the line.....so you have to pick your battle.
As others have pointed out:
1. It's free
2. You will witness a fair number of line cutters
3. 99% of the people are Chinese paying their respect
4. No cameras; although it's OK to have your phone (just don't attempt to use it)
5. You will get to view for 3 minutes tops
6. It's an experience and doing the "Chairman Mao Shuffle" something you should do
As others have pointed out:
1. It's free
2. You will witness a fair number of line cutters
3. 99% of the people are Chinese paying their respect
4. No cameras; although it's OK to have your phone (just don't attempt to use it)
5. You will get to view for 3 minutes tops
6. It's an experience and doing the "Chairman Mao Shuffle" something you should do
Written February 27, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
SOH KIEN PENG
Singapore, Singapore9,335 contributions
Nov 2014 • Couples
It is mechanical or meaningless if you just follow the crowd and step into the mausoleum to view the body of this great leader without really understanding his life history and political ideology. I would suggest that you read up Edgar Snow `Red Star Over China' to delve into the life struggle of this `Great Helmsman' before visiting the mausoleum.
Mao impressed me with his sacrifice for a revolutionary cause. His first wife and sister were executed by the `reactionary' ruling regime when Mao became `notoriously' famous as a hardcore communist leader for organizing peasant revolts. Mao was captured once and almost beheaded but he managed to flee and escape.
The soviet base at Kiangsi under the control of Mao's Red Army was encircled, besieged and bombarded by the technologically superior Kuomintang armed forces in an effort to exterminate the budding communist base but Mao and his Red Army broke out from the blockade and encirclement and embarked on the Long March to the north west. While many died during the tumultuous journey the `living force' of the Red Army survived, consolidated and subsequently hit back to seize power.
Mao and his Red Army dissociated themselves from the real bandits and maintained a well-disciplined force among the masses. The code of ethics practiced by Mao's Red Army won the hearts and minds of the peasants and many joined the Red Army to pursue the revolutionary cause. Mao relentlessly fought for the interests of the millions of peasants who were ill-exploited by the landlords and the ruling regime and implemented socialist agrarian reforms and equitable land distribution. Lenin relied on the factory proletariats for his political struggle but Mao achieved his mission through the peasants. `The People and the People alone are the motive force in the making of world history.' His philosophy centered around Marxism dialectical materialism.
While Mao made his fatal mistakes in the `Great Leap Forward' and in the disastrous `Proletarian Cultural Revolution' campaigns, he retained his prominent position in history as a great revolutionary leader who overthrew the decadent old regime and laid down the firm foundation of a new order for the rise of a modern China.
I am against Stalinism, against orthodox communism,and against absolute nepotism but I think Mao should retain his position as one of the most inspired and respectable Great Leader in the history of this most populous country in the world.
The mausoleum is free of charge but you need to leave your luggage and belongings in a paid locker and joined the long queue before gaining entry into the mausoleum.
Mao impressed me with his sacrifice for a revolutionary cause. His first wife and sister were executed by the `reactionary' ruling regime when Mao became `notoriously' famous as a hardcore communist leader for organizing peasant revolts. Mao was captured once and almost beheaded but he managed to flee and escape.
The soviet base at Kiangsi under the control of Mao's Red Army was encircled, besieged and bombarded by the technologically superior Kuomintang armed forces in an effort to exterminate the budding communist base but Mao and his Red Army broke out from the blockade and encirclement and embarked on the Long March to the north west. While many died during the tumultuous journey the `living force' of the Red Army survived, consolidated and subsequently hit back to seize power.
Mao and his Red Army dissociated themselves from the real bandits and maintained a well-disciplined force among the masses. The code of ethics practiced by Mao's Red Army won the hearts and minds of the peasants and many joined the Red Army to pursue the revolutionary cause. Mao relentlessly fought for the interests of the millions of peasants who were ill-exploited by the landlords and the ruling regime and implemented socialist agrarian reforms and equitable land distribution. Lenin relied on the factory proletariats for his political struggle but Mao achieved his mission through the peasants. `The People and the People alone are the motive force in the making of world history.' His philosophy centered around Marxism dialectical materialism.
While Mao made his fatal mistakes in the `Great Leap Forward' and in the disastrous `Proletarian Cultural Revolution' campaigns, he retained his prominent position in history as a great revolutionary leader who overthrew the decadent old regime and laid down the firm foundation of a new order for the rise of a modern China.
I am against Stalinism, against orthodox communism,and against absolute nepotism but I think Mao should retain his position as one of the most inspired and respectable Great Leader in the history of this most populous country in the world.
The mausoleum is free of charge but you need to leave your luggage and belongings in a paid locker and joined the long queue before gaining entry into the mausoleum.
Written October 17, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
highburychampion
Melbourne, Australia482 contributions
I have seen Lenin and Ho Chi Minh and wanted to complete this fascinating trifecta. It was an absolute must do for me.
First the logistics. Closed on Mondays. Take your passport ( although mine was not checked).
Do not take a bag or camera if you can help it, else check it in at the bag locker near the museum before you enter the square. Security is tight. I left everything at the hotel.
Regrettably I didn't bring my phone either as I assumed it would not be allowed. It is, you just have to turn it off when you go in. The main reason I brought nothing was to avoid queues to deposit the bags.
It is free of charge.
I came for the flag raising ceremony at dawn which was crowded and accompanied by music. The throngs of Chinese people who had come to see it where a spectacle alone.
As soon as the flag raising was over I sprinted across the square ( as did others) to join the queue to see Chairman Mao. Regrettably the dawn flag raising was at 4.50 am and the queue did not start moving until 8 am. Officially it should open at 7.30am. Highly annoying that it is not open immediately after the flag raising.
Anyway, I suffered loads and loads of pushing into the queue and shoving and spitting etc during my 3 hours in the queue. Exasperating but it was what i had signed up for.
Near impossible to stop the pushing in although my friend and I tried our best. We saw a lot of genuine patriotic experience in the queue. A pilgrimage of sorts. Wish I had had my phone to capture some of it and also to while away these 3 hours.
I ended up sitting on the floor as I simply couldn't stand for3 hours. Be careful when the queue starts going though so you do not get trampled!!
Once the queue gets going it moves. Within 10 minutes we were in and out and had been whisked past Mao.
I have never witnessed so many Chinese people being so silent and reverent. Many were on their knees paying respects when they saw his massive statue inside.
The body itself is in uniform and draped in a flag. It looks well preserved ( too well to be real ? )
Anyway, I am definitely glad I did this. I enjoyed being part of that line even though it was too long as I got a real insight into just how much the Chinese respect Mao.
I suspect this queue would be too long for those with children. There were no children in the queue whatsoever when I was there and only a handful of foreign tourists.
First the logistics. Closed on Mondays. Take your passport ( although mine was not checked).
Do not take a bag or camera if you can help it, else check it in at the bag locker near the museum before you enter the square. Security is tight. I left everything at the hotel.
Regrettably I didn't bring my phone either as I assumed it would not be allowed. It is, you just have to turn it off when you go in. The main reason I brought nothing was to avoid queues to deposit the bags.
It is free of charge.
I came for the flag raising ceremony at dawn which was crowded and accompanied by music. The throngs of Chinese people who had come to see it where a spectacle alone.
As soon as the flag raising was over I sprinted across the square ( as did others) to join the queue to see Chairman Mao. Regrettably the dawn flag raising was at 4.50 am and the queue did not start moving until 8 am. Officially it should open at 7.30am. Highly annoying that it is not open immediately after the flag raising.
Anyway, I suffered loads and loads of pushing into the queue and shoving and spitting etc during my 3 hours in the queue. Exasperating but it was what i had signed up for.
Near impossible to stop the pushing in although my friend and I tried our best. We saw a lot of genuine patriotic experience in the queue. A pilgrimage of sorts. Wish I had had my phone to capture some of it and also to while away these 3 hours.
I ended up sitting on the floor as I simply couldn't stand for3 hours. Be careful when the queue starts going though so you do not get trampled!!
Once the queue gets going it moves. Within 10 minutes we were in and out and had been whisked past Mao.
I have never witnessed so many Chinese people being so silent and reverent. Many were on their knees paying respects when they saw his massive statue inside.
The body itself is in uniform and draped in a flag. It looks well preserved ( too well to be real ? )
Anyway, I am definitely glad I did this. I enjoyed being part of that line even though it was too long as I got a real insight into just how much the Chinese respect Mao.
I suspect this queue would be too long for those with children. There were no children in the queue whatsoever when I was there and only a handful of foreign tourists.
Written May 21, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
product-of-canada
Toronto, Canada2,492 contributions
Seeing Mao Zedong's Memorial Hall was a priority for me in Beijing, and was indeed a personal highlight in Beijing. It is incredible to see the preserved man himself - the one responsible for so much controversy in China and the world.
It was interesting to see the Chinese pay their respects, and to watch the Guards usher and 'bark' at everyone to move along. The line to get in looks overwhelmingly long, but it does move quickly. I stood in line for just over an hour to see Mao for less than a minute. You can see a picture of a part of the line here.
There is some controversy over whether or not the preserved remains are authentic. Having visited the Memorial Hall, I would tend to agree with those that speculate the body is a wax replica. The condition of the face was just too perfect. It is still interesting to visit, and judge for yourself.
When I visited in August 2010, the hours of the Memorial Hall were Tuesday to Sunday, 8:00am to 12:00pm. You can hardly bring anything in with you, including cameras and bags. There is no cost for admission.
It was interesting to see the Chinese pay their respects, and to watch the Guards usher and 'bark' at everyone to move along. The line to get in looks overwhelmingly long, but it does move quickly. I stood in line for just over an hour to see Mao for less than a minute. You can see a picture of a part of the line here.
There is some controversy over whether or not the preserved remains are authentic. Having visited the Memorial Hall, I would tend to agree with those that speculate the body is a wax replica. The condition of the face was just too perfect. It is still interesting to visit, and judge for yourself.
When I visited in August 2010, the hours of the Memorial Hall were Tuesday to Sunday, 8:00am to 12:00pm. You can hardly bring anything in with you, including cameras and bags. There is no cost for admission.
Written September 12, 2010
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
mbraun85
San Antonio, TX29 contributions
May 2015 • Solo
After reading the reviews I was a little reluctant to do this. Lots of security and long lines. 'Oh what the heck' so I went to Tiananmen Square and braved the crowds and security. As I finally entered the square I was impressed with the size and beauty of it. Very nice. Mao is at the southern part of the square. The line was not bad at all. There is even MORE security when you get in that line. No bags, cameras, or even cigarette lighters are allowed beyond the security check point. Cell phones are allowed but they need to be in your pocket. You then go up the steps into the Memorial Hall. A security man will make everyone remove their hats prior to entering the hall. You enter the fist room where there is a LARGE statue of Mao with a huge pastoral painting behind him. You split into two lines that go left and right. From that point you enter the room where Mao lays in State. You only see his head because the rest of his body is wrapped in the Chinese flag. The lighting on his face almost makes it look as though his head is being lit from the inside. The crowds pass by silently and reverently. You then pass out the back and down the stairs and you are done. I arrived at about 10 am and it took no more than 15 minutes from the time I got in line until I was out the back. A TIP: Get on the internet before you go and read about the competition to build the crystal casket. It's kind of nice to know something about it prior to your trip. You'll know things about it that others will take no notice in. Also it's interesting to know that Mao desired to be cremated but apparently they chose to make a tourist attraction out of him instead. Overall I'm glad that I did it. It's easy to do and something that you can tell your friends about.
Written May 29, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Sono stata recentemente a Pechino. La guida che ci accompagnava ci ha detto che solo i parenti potevano entrare nel mausoleo di Mao. È vero ?
Written November 2, 2019
plan to visit 20/10/2017 Chairman Mao Memorial Hall (Maozhuxi Jiniantang) please help whether is it re open after the renovation? i knew is open at 8am, so shall we go earlier around 7am to queue last we need to deposit our bag first ? then only to queue in line? thank you
Written October 17, 2017
The National Peoples China Congress is on which usually means it is closed for the next week.
Written October 17, 2017
Dear Sirs - I'd like to have information about the mummification of the body of the chairman Mao. What was the tecnique used? - Thank you very much.
Marcelo
Written February 24, 2017
What time do you recommend lining up to visit the memorial if you want to be at the front of the line when it opens? What is the opening time on June 3rd? I'm very short on time and don't want to miss it so I would come very early if need be.Thanking you in advance
Written May 18, 2015
The Memorial Hall is open Tuesday to Sunday 08.00 to 12.00. You will need to go through security to enter Tiananmen square first. . You need to take your passport and if possible don't take any bags or cameras as these need to be deposited at a building next to the Hall and that can take extra time leaving and collecting your belongings. We went mid morning - we had no bags - so we joined the queue which moved really quickly. We were asked to show our passports as we were in the queue for the hall. You are asked to switch off mobile phones.The security staff move you along really quickly passed the crystal cabinet so the whole experience didn't last more than 20 mins from joining the queue to leaving the hall. You can buy a flower and lay it at the statue of Chairman Mao at the entrance to the building. Unable to advise re going early but we had plenty of time to do everything .
Written May 19, 2015
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