Top 10 Guys Sit, Stand Tall: Wax Helmsman, Popular Effigies Await at Museum

From founder of modern China Sun Yat-sen to creator of the Communist nation Mao Zedong to reformist Deng Xiaoping, they're all here. The Great Men Wax Museum features the 10 most influential figures in the nation's modern history: Other party greats are here: Zhu De, Liu Shaoqi and Zhou Enlai. Writers Soong Qingling and Lu Xun are included, as is revolutionary martyr -- and ever-shining example -- Lei Feng. Even President Jiang Zemin!

Museum of the Chinese Revolution

This month the Museum of the Chinese Revolution presents a special exhibition of over 2,000 items that takes you on a tour through the enormous changes that have taken place in all aspects of life since the birth of New China. The exhibition, entitled "China 1978-1998," covers the areas of politics, the economy, science, culture, sports and the military.

The Spirit of the Times

The middle-aged Chinese museum guide was becoming agitated as he struggled to find the words to express his feelings. "Lei Feng, he was ... I'm sorry, my English is not good ... He was ... a great man."

Behind him a large television was replaying a documentary film, part of the Museum of Chinese History's exhibition to commemorate the 35th anniversary of Mao Zedong's call for the nation to "Learn from Lei Feng," a model soldier who had died tragically a year earlier at the age of 22. On the walls hung a photographic record of his short life, and visitors of all ages and many nationalities gathered in front of glass cases to contemplate collections of his personal artifacts and read extracts from his famous writings exhorting himself and others to work hard in the service of Party and country. Near the entrance stood a massive bronze bust surrounded by vivid plastic sunflowers, symbolizing the deathless optimism and faith he exemplified.