BEIJING, Dec. 26 -- A locomotive named after late Chinese leader Mao Zedong (1893-1976) arrived at Changsha, capital of his home province of Hunan, on Friday, the anniversary of Mao's birth.

"Mao Zedong" pulled the T1 passenger train that runs between the Chinese capital and Hunan while bearing the late leader's portrait. It left Beijing Railway Station on Thursday afternoon.

Friday is the 121st anniversary of Mao's birth.

"Mao Zedong" was assigned to run on the Beijing-Hunan Line after its fifth upgrade. The new locomotive has a maximum speed of 160 km per hour.

The locomotive was named after Mao on Oct. 30, 1946 in Harbin City in northeast China during the War of Liberation (1946-1949). It was initially a steam locomotive used to transport soldiers and military materials.

It was later upgraded to run on diesel in 1977. The new model is electric and belongs to the Beijing Railway Bureau.

"Mao Zedong" boasts 9.63 million kilometers of safe operations over the past 68 years.