I photographed Mao Zedong’s statue in Lijiang in 2000. Authorities frequently installed monuments like this in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when the state prominently displayed Mao’s image in public spaces across China.

Builders erected the statue to assert political authority and ideological unity, establishing it as a visible reminder of state leadership. By the time of this photograph, however, the figure had blended into the urban landscape, anchoring itself in daily life rather than in active political ritual.