Laid-off workers form impersonator troupe in Shenyang
By Sun Yuqing (www.dkpw.cn)
Updated: 2006-07-03 17:13
At the opening ceremony of a farmer's market in Shenyang, Northeast China's
Liaoning Province, Mao Zedong, Chou Enlai, Chen Yi, and other former Chinese
leaders are in attendance. All of them are impersonations done by laid-off
workers in this important industrial center in China.
Wang Dong, 58, became the chief organizer of the troupe after being laid off
from a ballast factory in Shenyang. He has been playing the role of late premier
Chou Enlai for ten years. "I love premier Chou deeply, and I will try my best to
do a good performance,'' said Wang Dong, who can make hundreds of yuan for each
performance.
Li Guangqi, 52, who plays Chairman Mao Zedong, has had a hard life since he
was laid off from a valves factory. Li and his wife divorced and he now lives in
an old building in a rural area. He has collected a lot of Mao's pictures in his
small room. To make a living, he also sells telephone cards and insurance.
The troupe has performed in many cities, such as Beijing and Yan'an in
Shaanxi Province. The troupe usually plays three or four times a month,
sometimes even for wedding ceremonies or birthday parties.
[Wang Yishu/ Southern Weekend]
Performance in front of a farmer's market in
Shenyang.
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