Hunan Province is well known as the birthplace of a number of famous communists, most notably Chairman Mao Zedong, the leader of China from 1950 until his death in 1976, Liu Shaoqi, head of state under Mao (1959-1966) until ousted during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), Peng Dehuai, a Field Marshal and Chief of the Ministry of National Defence, Hu Yaobang, who became general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party in 1980 and Party Chairman in 1981, and Hua Guofeng, the man, chosen by Mao, who was briefly chairman after Mao's death. With such a strong concentration of communist minds, the province was a hotbed of early anti-Japanese and anti-Nationalist activity, and many of the areas within and near Changsha still commemorate this.

Mao Zedong (1893-1976) is the center of all of these sights. Mao arrived in Changsha, aged 18, from his native village of Shaoshan, in order to become educated, and, after a stint with the local militia, he succeeded in completing his studies and became a teacher at the college that he had attended. Secret political societies were all the rage at this time and it was on political activities that Mao spent most of his time, until finally he was harassed from the city, fleeing to Beijing in 1923.

The best communist sights in the province include the Former Headquarters of the Local Communist Party, the Hunan Number One Teachers' Training School, the Lei Feng Memorial Museum and Mao's birthplace Shaoshan.

The Former Headquarters of the Local Communist Party (Zhong gong xiangqu weiyuanhui jiuzhi), is in a central area of Changsha, on the newly named August 1st Road. This complex, now a museum, was formerly named Clear Water Pool (Qingshui tang) and was the area that Mao, and his new wife Yang Kuihui, stayed in from 1921 to 1923. Yang Kuihui, a daughter of Mao's influential teacher, an old Hunanese called Yang Chang Qi, was later killed by the Nationalists (Guomindang), fueling Mao's initial hatred of Chiang Kaishek.

The building is now commemorated both for its former residents and for the fact that it served as the base for the first meeting of the local Chinese Communist Party in July 1921. At the main entrance to the former headquarters stands a large, white marble statue of Mao. Within the grounds are a number of stone tablets, on the walls, upon which are written various epigrams, some written by Mao. The rest of the gardens are pretty limited, including a shabby vegetable patch and a number of peasant farming tools. Within the building are photos and historical items from the 1920s, a history of Hunanese agriculture, the original conference room and the room where Mao and his wife lived.

Address: Entrance is on Bayi lu, at the intersection with Qingshui tang lu (west of the Yingbin lu intersection).
How to get communist sights of interest : The sight is on the No.1 bus route, although can be walked from most central areas.
Opening hours: Daily; 08:30-17:00.