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This Wednesday a massive mobilization across China to commemorated the 50th anniversary of the death of Mao Zedong, the founder of the People’s Republic of China. The largest gatherings took place in Shaoshan, Hunan, and at the Tiananmen Mausoleum in Beijing.

In keeping with internal Communist Party of China (CPC) guidelines set in 1996, the government did not hold official state ceremonies for the anniversary. Even so, the volume of visitors was large enough that authorities had to extend visiting hours at the mausoleum in the capital to accommodate the turnout.

The scale of the public tribute, organized without state sponsorship, underscored the extent to which the historic leader continues to hold symbolic weight in China’s political identity and collective memory, decades after his death.

In Shaoshan, in Hunan province, hundreds of people laid floral offerings before Mao’s bronze statue in the town’s central square, an annual ritual that draws visitors from across the country to the leader’s birthplace.