---
title: Mao portrait and Party slogan on the Beijing airport terminal, Nixon arrival, 21 February 1972
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/beijing-airport-mao-portrait-party-slogan-nixon-arrival-1972/
description: 'Photograph taken as President Nixon''s party arrived: army honour-guard in greatcoats in the foreground, a roped-off crowd beneath the terminal, a large…'
section: Collection
---

[Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)

[![Mao portrait and Party slogan on the Beijing airport terminal, Nixon arrival, 21 February 1972](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/beijing-airport-mao-portrait-party-slogan-nixon-arrival-1972.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/beijing-airport-mao-portrait-party-slogan-nixon-arrival-1972.jpg)

# Mao portrait and Party slogan on the Beijing airport terminal, Nixon arrival, 21 February 1972

Photograph taken as President Nixon's party arrived: army honour-guard in greatcoats in the foreground, a roped-off crowd beneath the terminal, a large framed portrait of Mao on the facade, the national flag on a pole, and a tall red banner at right with a Party slogan. The display binds the leader's portrait, the flag and a claim of Party leadership into one backdrop at the point of arrival (transfer).

## Text on the object

Original (Chinese (simplified characters)) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
北京

领导我们事业的核心力量是中国共产党。
```

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

```
Beijing.

The force at the core leading our cause is the Chinese Communist Party.
```

Roof characters read left to right. The banner at right is read in three vertical columns from right to left and matches the 1954 sentence the poster text quotes; the lowest characters are slightly blurred at 960 px.

[← There are but two sides in a war: she fights on the side of African freedom, Gulf finances the other: Boycott Gulf](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/pan-african-liberation-committee-boycott-gulf-1972/) ["英雄黄继光" (Hero Huang Jiguang), Shanghai poster →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/hero-huang-jiguang-poster-china-1973/)

## Using the same techniques

- [Bronze sestertius of Gaius (Caligula), reverse S P Q R P P OB CIVES SERVATOS in an oak wreath](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/sestertius-caligula-ob-cives-servatos-0037/) (Roman Empire · 0037 · Testimonial, Transfer)
- [Gold coin of Kanishka: King of Kings legend, king at the altar, deity Oesho](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/gold-dinar-kanishka-king-of-kings-0130/) (Kushan Empire · 0130 · Transfer)
- [Gold solidus of Justinian I, reverse VICTORIA AVGGG with Victory holding a Christogram staff](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/solidus-justinian-i-victoria-avggg-0538/) (Byzantine Empire · 0538 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Bayeux Tapestry, scene 23: UBI HAROLD SACRAMENTVM FECIT VVILLELMO DVCI](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/bayeux-tapestry-harold-oath-to-william-1070/) (Kingdom of England · 1070 · Transfer, Card stacking)
- [Mughal gold coin of Jahangir, dated 1028 AH, with a bull inside a ring of sun rays](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/jahangir-gold-zodiac-coin-sun-rays-1619/) (Mughal Empire · 1619 · Transfer)
- [Frontispiece to Eikon Basilike, The Pourtraicture of His Sacred Majestie in his Solitudes and Sufferings (Hollar, 1649)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/eikon-basilike-frontispiece-hollar-1649/) (Dutch Republic · 1649 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Consult of the doctors on the grave illness of the Grand Sultan (Consult vande medicijnen inde swaere siekte vanden grooten Sultaen)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/consult-of-the-doctors-sick-sultan-antwerp-1683/) (Spanish Netherlands · 1683 · Transfer, Bandwagon)
- [The Highlanders Medley, or The Duke Triumphant (A Loyal Song)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/highlanders-medley-duke-triumphant-1746/) (Great Britain · 1746 · Name-calling, Transfer)