He Yanghui, 60, understands well that the quality of life for her husband and herself this year depends as usual on sales of souvenirs at their two-square-meter stall.

The couple grows their own rice for staple food, but for every bit of the family's disposable income, the founding father of the People's Republic of China, Chairman Mao Zedong, takes credit three decades after his death.

Their stall, one in a row of a dozen, is in mountainous Shaoshan in southern Hunan Province and only about 100 meters away from a mud-wall house that has since been renovated. This was the home of Mao's parents, and the birthplace of the man himself. To people who revere Mao, it is like Mecca.

Souvenir stall owners like He are a dime a dozen among the farmers of this village, many of whom earn a living by selling mostly cheap items with Mao's image on it, from badges to key rings to alarm clocks. He's three sons are all in the same business.

"All year, I only take three or five days off, when the farm work is really busy," said He, who grew up in the area and has been selling Mao souvenirs for 20 years. "After all, I can earn a little more than 10,000 yuan in a normal year by selling souvenirs, and that gives us a comfortable life."

He's stall is on the side of a path leading to the tomb of Mao's parents, which many tourists will take time to visit after seeing the house. When there are no customers around, He enjoys eagle-eying the tourists from all over the world as they weave through the jumbled mess of old buildings. She regards the length of the queues as her business climate index.

"The crowd has become bigger and bigger in recent years. I've seen longer queues only during the Cultural Revolution," said He, watching the crowd three days before the 30th anniversary of the death of Mao.

"Long live Chairman Mao," once the most popular slogan during the Cultural Revolution, faded away for most Chinese people with Mao's death on September 9, 1976, the conclusion of the Cultural Revolution that year and social upheavals thereafter.

Yet for the people in Mao's hometown, and in particular the souvenir sellers, it all seems still relevant as every day they see and feel the direct benefits of living around Mao's birthplace.

Mao as god

Despite making a living by selling trinkets with his image on them, He thinks Mao's greatest legacy at his birthplace is not the rampant consumerism but his spiritual legacy. "I will remember him as an altruistic man for losing six family members to the revolution," she said.

Shaoshan is Mao's birthplace and where he spent his childhood and early teenage years before departing for further studies in Changsha, capital city of Hunan Province, in 1910 at the age of 17. He came back in the 1920s, founding underground rural Party branches and educating farmers on fighting landlords for a fairer society.

Many townspeople followed Mao's revolutionary path, including his two brothers and his first wife, who died in the struggle for Communism and are considered martyrs. He came back to Shaoshan twice after the 1949 founding of the new China, in 1959 and 1966. Items on display in museums in Shaoshan include a pair of worn out slippers and a robe Mao wore during his trips to his hometown, reinforcing the image of a leader who would sacrifice luxuries for the well-being of his people.

Mao's perceived high moral ground along with his image as a savior of the nation has fostered some people's worship of him. Credit card-sized metal talismans with engraved portraits of Mao to bring health and fortune, instead of the more usual images of Buddha, can be bought at almost every souvenir stall in Shaoshan.

Tang Tian, 24, a civil servant of local government, said she wouldn't say anything unfavorable about Mao on any occasion. Besides her affection for the great leader, she has a fear of punishment from beyond the grave for offending Mao's spirit.