A Lamborghini for Mao (Journey to the New China, I)

Tianfu Square in Chengdu concentrates all the enormous contradictions of today's China in a single glance. It is presided over by a monumental statue of Mao Zedong, the father of the People's Republic, who seems to defy the passage of time. If you look at it from the center of the square while standing, for a moment you may have the feeling that very little has changed in this country. The Great Helmsman, with his close-collared jacket, his arms…