A brown-black stone vividly resembling the late Chinese leader Mao Zedong's head has been found by tourists in a scenic spot in east China's Anhui Province.

The granite rock about four meters in diameter is naturally shaped with Mao's back-combed hair, round forehead, protruding cheekbones and a perfectly round lower jaw.

The rock is located not far from the entrance to the Zhangshan Gorge, which has been partly developed into a tourist site.

According to an official with the tourism bureau of Jixi County, where the gorge is located, around 20,000 tourists have visited since it was opened last October. The new discovery would certainly increase the reputation of the spot.

Chairman Mao, the founder of People's Republic of China, came from Shaoshan in central China's Hunan Province, which is also a tourist hot spot.

( People's Daily June 3, 2002)