Menu signed by Mao Zedong auctioned for a quarter of a million dollars
Boston-based RR Auction said the menu was for a banquet held in Beijing in 1956.
![](https://www.guernseypress.com/resizer/v2/KPIPJ6FQUFBA3EN2FOVKATHH4I.jpg?auth=29cd3b83cc949ed537a7e1a973dbdba50ce7ce5619f49049c0f745a8e1d84680&width=300&height=225)
An official menu for a state banquet that bears the signature of former Chinese leader Mao Zedong has been auctioned for 275,000 US dollars (£220,000).
Boston-based RR Auction said the menu was for a banquet held in Beijing on October 19 1956, and commemorated the first state visit to China by Pakistan’s prime minister Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy.
![The menu for a state banquet signed by Mao Zedong](http://content.assets.pressassociation.io/AP/2020/03/12/76ed62d7d1f148fe86546ef64a78c265.jpg?w=640)
The banquet featured foods from both nations and included delicacies such as consomme of swallow nest and white agaric, shark’s fin in brown sauce, and roast Peking duck.
“To hold a menu signed by Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai is to hold a piece of the past – a piece that tells a story of diplomatic engagement, cultural exchange, and the forging of friendships that have endured through the decades,” said Bobby Livingston, executive vice president at RR Auction.
![A cheque signed by Steve Jobs](http://content.assets.pressassociation.io/AP/2020/01/04/bac5bc29767146bf91e017ff8d4ac44a.jpg?w=640)
The cheque, dated July 23 1976, was signed by Mr Jobs the same year he and Steve Wozniak launched Apple in a Silicon Valley garage.