Beijing has a Michael Jackson statue and it's bad, it's bad

Really, really bad

Yesterday, June 25, marked nine years since the world lost the King of Pop. Nine years in which Bruno Mars and Justin Bieber have seemingly battled it out to seize the throne, but left us fully unconvinced of their credentials as the monarch of modern music.

'But how is any of this relevant to Beijing?', you might ask.

Well, lap it up Beijingers, because you are #Blessed enough to be one of only a handful of cities in the world to own a Michael Jackson statue.

He-he lives. Image: DX Wang.

This isn't breaking news, by the way. Beijing's MJ tribute has been knocking around for a number of years, but it seems the anniversary of his death requires a bit of a refresher.

Rather than being an official homage of sorts, this dusty rouge specimen with a mangled finger is actually a sample piece, parked outside a statue-making company's shopfront, and is complemented by a partnering Marilyn Monroe (whose face actually bears a worrying resemblance to Margaret Thatcher). Both stand in the shadow of the National Art Museum and remain, rather perplexingly, untouched by Dongcheng’s ongoing facelift.

They may brick and destroy our bars, but they’ll never take our King. So, bow down, pay your respects, lay a flower, hold a candle-lit vigil, maybe even bust out your finest moonwalk before his grace in tribute this week. Shamone.

Find Michael, maybe even find yourself, at 16 Wusi Dajie (opposite the National Art Museum of China), Dongcheng district.

For the best art exhibitions in Beijing this June, hit 'Read more'.

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