Dining out on the Helmsman

THE God of Wealth is a common sight in many Chinese peasant households but at Shaoshan's Mao Family Restaurant the proprietor, Madam Tang Ruiren, has built a shrine to Mao Zedong. It has much the same effect.

Since it opened in 1986, the small restaurant, strategically located across the lily pond from Chairman Mao's ancestral home, has become as much of a tourist attraction as Mao's residence itself, and business is booming.

But it is not the location of the restaurant that has attracted the tourists, or the lethally hot food it serves; it is the proprietor herself. Madam Tang is one of the few ordinary citizens of China to have played host to Mao, and what's more she has the photograph to prove it.

The huge black and white picture, taken in June 1959 when the chairman briefly returned to his home town for an inspection tour, dominates the restaurant, and Madam Tang freely hands out smaller autographed copies to her guests.

Her meeting with the Great Helmsman only lasted for about half-an-hour but Madam Tang has capitalised on her close encounter to a remarkable degree. In fact, she has based her entire career on it.

Inspired by the success of Madam Tang's venture, many other villagers have opened their own Mao Restaurants (there were at least a dozen at the last count) and although none can upstage the original, there certainly seems to be enough customers to keep everyone busy.

Mao is not just helping the restaurant trade. The revolutionary leader who ruthlessly purged those he regarded as ''capitalist roaders'' is being used to sell everything from pens and watches to cigarettes and liquor.