Chinese bid farewell to Mao Zedong's son

BEIJING: Hundreds of Chinese on Monday attended the funeral of late Chinese leader 'Chairman' Mao Zedong's only surviving son and prominent Russian translator, Mao Anqing, who died here late last month.

Anqing, the second son of Mao Zedong, died on March 24 at the age of 84.

Mourners, many dressed in military uniform, queued up quietly outside the memorial hall at the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery in western Beijing, to pay their respects to the deceased.

Mao Anqing, born in 1923 in central China's Hunan Province, was one of the three sons of Mao Zedong and his first wife Yang Kaihui.

He was sent to Shanghai together with his elder brother Mao Anying and younger brother Mao Anlong after their mother was killed in 1930 by a local warlord.

In 1936, Mao Anqing and Mao Anying were sent to study in Moscow.

Mao Anqing returned to China in 1947 and joined the Communist Party of China (CPC).

He began working as a Russian translator in the Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in 1949. He has translated a dozen of masterpieces of Marxism and Leninism and some books on political science from Russian to Chinese.

Mao Zedong is revered by many Chinese as their idol despite the blunders he committed during the decade-long 'Cultural Revolution' (1966-1976).