Mao Zedong (help·info) (December 26, 1893 – September 9, 1976) (also Mao Tse-Tung in Wade-Giles transliteration) was a Chinese Marxist military and political leader, who led the Chinese Communist Party to victory against the Kuomintang (KMT) in the Chinese Civil War, leading to the establishment of the People’s Republic of China on October 1, 1949 in Beijing.
Mao pursued the ideal of a strong, prosperous and socially egalitarian China, endeavoring to build a modern, industrialized, socialist nation. However, the failings of Mao's most significant socio-political programs — including the Anti-Rightist Campaign, the Great Leap Forward, and the Cultural Revolution — have been widely criticized. Mao is a controversial figure today. While officially held in high regard in China, he is today rarely mentioned by the government, whose policies have diverged greatly from those of Mao. Maoists around the world look to Mao as a great revolutionary leader whose thought is the highest expression of Marxism. Many of his detractors however accuse him of having been a mass-murderer, holding his leadership accountable for the deaths of tens of millions of Chinese.
Yao Ming (Chinese: 姚明; pinyin: Yáo Míng) (born September 12, 1980 in Shanghai, China) is a Chinese professional basketball player and is currently considered one of the premiere centers in the National Basketball Association. Yao Ming is currently the tallest player in the NBA.
He plays for the Houston Rockets in the National Basketball Association. He was selected by Houston as the 1st overall pick of the 2002 NBA Draft and eventually signed with them on October 21, 2002. In his rookie season, he spoke via his interpreter and close friend, Colin Pine, although he now speaks without a translator. Yao is regarded as the most dominant player to come out of China.