E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
Jason Lee / Reuters
Residents rest near portraits of the Soviet state founder Vladimir Lenin and dictator Joseph Stalin at Dong Fang Hong Square in Nanjie village of Luohe city in China's central Henan province.
Jason Lee / Reuters
Residents push lawn mowers on a street in Nanjie village of Luohe city in China's central Henan province.
Jason Lee / Reuters
A student from an art school practices next to a poster with a portrait of the late Chairman Mao Zedong and characters of Chinese revolutionary drama in Nanjie village of Luohe city in China's central Henan province.
Jason Lee / Reuters
A worker cleans near a poster of the late Chairman Mao Zedong at a thermal power plant of the Nanjie Cun Group in Nanjie village. Mao is still highly revered in Nanjie, enjoying a god-like status.
Jason Lee / Reuters
A local resident on the balcony of her welfare house at a community in Nanjie village.
Jason Lee / Reuters
A girl next to a portrait of the late Chairman Mao Zedong at a souvenir shop beside Dong Fang Hong Square in Nanjie village.
Jason Lee / Reuters
A local resident shows his meal tickets as he receives steamed bread in Nanjie village.
Reuters reports: Nanjie village of Luohe city in China's central Henan province, with more than 3,100 residents, is touted to be one of the remaining models of communist China, where the principles of morality and collectivism of the late Chairman Mao still strictly guide the people's daily lives.
Aside from free housing, healthcare, food rations and education, locals working in the village's factories receive an average salary of 2500 yuan, about 400 dollars. The village's return to communism came at the same time as the rest of the country opened up to the capitalist market in the mid 1980s.
Beijing-based Reuters photographer Jason Lee created these images on Sept. 24 and made them available to NBC News today.
Leave a Comment:
Millions of men, women, and children murdered by 3 "men" that those viligers honor so much must be spining in their graves. Why do we not learn from our mistakes?
those 3 "men" didn't murder those villagers or their ancestors. central & western china is so big and the communities are so isolated from each other that they essentially function without any interaction, and developed unique world-views. that's why you can find matrilineal societies, muslim communities, and a variety of different language groups in the hinterlands of china.
I just spent 2+months living in a Thai Communist Farming Camp, next to the Laos border...
No phones, Internet, or TV service. The only satellite and electricity was piped into the Leaders area and headquarters sections. If you wanted to charge any portable devices you had to go through them...
In 1949 the Dali Lama stated that silence and solitude was the first things that the Chinese Communist took from the Monks. After two days I was glad that I could not understand most Thai words, the loud speakers were on from day-break to after mid-night. I discovered they could be heard over 1-km from camp, during my daily exploration of the surround areas and trails...
During the last few weeks, when the Kohn Khen 'Black Shirts' arrived. The camp became very militant, guards everywhere, check-outs @ the gates, roster checks, mandatory formations/meetings, they even tried to lock the camp down. I informed the head guard that I was a US Citizen and would come and go as I pleased. He concurred, as the only Ferang on camp I had a few liberties, the Thai's did not...
The closest Internet Cafe was a 18+km walk off the mountain. Usually I could obtain a ride or two from the local dirt farmers, but the last day on Camp I got to walk the entire distance. The POLICE gave me a ride back to camp, nice to have the correct friends. This was a week after my 63rd birthday... Ha! Ha!
Over 3,500 people were workers on this camp, plus support staff, and most did not have transportation off the camp. They could go to the local markets, ATM, contact their families, etc, but the 3.5+kl access road was very bad, usually only 4x4 and trucks/trail bikes. Any contact with the real world was very controlled and limited. I talked to people who had been on this camp constantly for over 6+months and they had NO IDEAL about what was going on in Thailand or the World, most just didn't care...
When I tried to discuss issues like; Tibet, South China Sea conflicts, and others, they were clueless. Even the English speakers and Group Leaders, would play dumb. Though I did speak with the Khon Khen and BKK leaders and discussed in depth their personnel & party views...
The Thai Communist were originally founded by the Chinese Immigrants in 1942 and their power base were the Thai College professors/studentsand BKK elites. After the Leadership collapse during the failed attempt to invade and free Laos, during the late 1970s, this changed. Sense the Chinese version was purging the educated and artist, the BKK Thai's dropped their support and only the dirt farmers of Issan continued the fight against the Thai Army, CIA, and a few US bases...
The Thai Communist now support the Vietnam Communist, though originally they did not. It wasn't until after the Cambodia atrocities by the Pol Pot, Tibet/Laos invasions, and Mao's purge during the Cultural Revolution, were reveled to the World...
The Chinese Communist policies of; enslavement of non-Hon, eradication of Buddhist and Muslims, and current territorial encroachments are not supported by the current Thai Communist Leadership...
Not all Communist support the same policies or even support other Communist Countries. Vietnam has kicked China's A$$ 17+times, when China tried to invade Vietnam's territories...
The Issan Thai Communist are currently supporting social change through, development of better farming methods, education, and other social betterment policies...
The farang from Thailand comes back from his hibernation.
Now tell me,did the Obama team find you and have you come home to help organize and work in his reelection efforts.You seem the be a prime example of the type of person he wants working close to him and to help him strenghen his economic policies!How was the daily gruel?
Some people just have that worker bee mentality. The STATE will provide all.
PS: Don't get off on some Obama tangent. The US is nothing like communist China and never will be regardless of who is President. Even "Communist" China is not like Mao's communist China.
You have to be Chinese to accept as true and real fo Mao and Communist ideals. But China does not. Likewise, other people in the world would be hard to believe why we have so many Washington streets/squares/stations, etc.
What a news!
To the fellow living in the Communist village in Thailand, your statements about no freedoms describes life under Communism or Fascism. Sorry I had to spend 5 hours being interogated by a member of the PLA. Thanks but not thanks. I will stick to the clunking along of democracy.
If you do not know what motivates those that have opinions/views different from your own. How do you change them or improve yours???
The vast majority of the people involved, saw nothing wrong with the way they were living. They had food, medical care, shelter, tools, and supplies furnished for FREE. They were convinced that the guards and ID checks were for their protection, from outside trouble makers...
I had the opportunity to see the communities develop and how the Camp was organized. It was amusing to see little old ladies/men fight over the FREE supplies, so they could repair their leaking roofs. Plus, the groups that would come together, sharing tools and skills, for the betterment of everyone...
One time when I was using MY personnel hammer to remodel my hut. A 'Black Shirt' walked up and picked-up my hammer and departed toward his area to build their huts. I followed and presented himmy CWL and stated that in the USA, I would have shot him, for doing that. He returned my hammer, the next time they asked to use my tools...
Most of the camp workers were afraid of the 'Black Shirts' and granted them liberties. I did not cower at their show of force and actually developed relations with the productive members. We worked together on several projects. I have used this method on many job sites in the USA, when I ran-up against opposition/thugs. After 26+years in the USMC, I do not back down...
Have fun clunking around in your democracy, with your ID checks, body scans, regulations, taxes, high prices for basic necessities, thinking your opinion/vote really does anything. Remember they are there to protect you from outside trouble makers. And if you think the US Gov/media does not control what you are reading/hearing, you have never lived outside of the USA...
Both systems have their strengths and weaknesses. The largest difference is the ability to develop new things. The hive mentality kills creativity, thinking outside the box is not tolerated...
Keep your friend close and your enemies closer...
Would I live in their society, NO. But I live in a very large family, we share tools & skills for the betterment of the family. Just a smaller form of Communism...
You sound stiffled in the democratic form of government.Maybe you should take your hammer and go out and find another colony to work in.I understand they still have collectives in Cuba,China,Viet Nam and starting a few in Venezuela/.Good By! Take a few "Occupy America" friends with you!Oh that's right,they can't be separated from their I-phone.Too bad.They would last anyway unless there was a job of collecting the pot and resale it a little higher than you paid for it! OOPPSS! That's creaping capitalism!
Beats being homeless in the USA.
bongleblue! If you are homeless maybe you could give up your computer or phone,whichever you are using to post your comments ,sell it and us the money to live on.No,chances are,your fone,your apartment,your utilities,your public transportation fees are all paid for by the government(that wouldbe me).Anyone in America who is homeless wants to be homeless.THere are facilities in every major city in america that provide housing,food,clinics,drug/alcohol rehabs facilities andeven money for those who just ask for help.I venture to say there are a hell of a lot more homeless and starving people in Southeast Asia than you will find in the Americas,including countries like Mexico.You just don't know how good you have it and instead like to sit aorund claiming America is the cause for all the world's problems!JUst leave! No one will miss you!
Zhuangzi said beautiful women are beautiful to the eyes of men.
If fish see them, they will dive to the bottom of the water.
If birds see them, they will fly away.
If deer see them, they will break into a run.
Mao Zedong is a cruel fascist to the eyes of people living outside China, but is an admirable hero for many Chinese.
Those two groups of people, the non-communists and the communists, will never understand each other because their brains are different in structure.
This difference comes from the difference of genes.
Math ability is influenced by genes.
The first Chinese who received the Fields Medal is a Chinese Australian, Terence Tao.
His parents are immigrants from Hong Kong.
If the communists' brains were equal to the non-communists', the first recipient would have appeared in the mainland that hold the most of the Chinese population.
What is this,a communist blog ,this morning.Have all of you just arrived from your reorintation camp?My god,you act like Mao was the only peoson involved or PolPot or Stralin or Lenin or Castro,orFranco,or Hitler.1 .they were all tyrants who killed and relocated tens of millions of their own people in the name of socialism and to justify the establishment of a bankrupt form of governence,economics and way of life.The east and west minds don't meet? You are insane and have drunk the koolaid so I don't think there is any help for you.If it was so wonderful,comrade,why did you come home.You should have stayed.Oh,I know,you came all the way home to participate in the "Occupy america" camp ins and to spread the good word of communism.Communism has been tried in various countries and in various forms over the last century.It doesn't work.China was bogged down with its inability to open and run a bicycle plant until they introduced capitalism to their country.Is this the crap they are teaching you in college these days?Whats' next,a job with MSNBC as a writer?Probably so! You are such a loser!