BEIJING (Reuters) - Late Chairman Mao Zedong is experiencing a revival in northeast China, but in an unlikely role — as a wedding MC.

Li Shouxin, an actor in his 50s and dead-ringer for Mao in a trademark blue suit, was in great demand among soon-to-be-weds in Changchun, Jilin province, and played the part at an average five to six weddings a month, the China Daily said on Friday.

“At weddings, Li begins with a typical Mao-style wave to guests before greeting people in the strong Hunan brogue of the leader’s home province,” the report said.

“He then invites the happy couples’ parents to speak and tells anecdotes about the newly weds.”

Li charged 500 yuan per appearance, which included a rendition of the revolutionary tune and paean to Mao “The East is Red”, the paper said.

Mao, the founder of modern China, is still widely revered in China despite having engineered the Great Leap Forward, which led to famine that claimed millions of lives in the late 1950s, and the chaotic 1966-76 Cultural Revolution.

The standard line in China is that Mao did 70 percent right and 30 percent wrong.

While Li has proved popular, not everyone in Changchun is taken with the idea of the Great Helmsman as wedding MC.

“Chairman Mao is my most respected person,” 69-year-old Ren Shuzhen was quoted as saying.

“To dress up in his image and preside over weddings hurts people’s feelings towards the great man.”

hattip to SRAV

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