They were enrolled in the Datong Kindergarten, which was run covertly by the Chinese Communist Party for the children of CCP leaders and operated by Dong Jianwu under the alias "Pastor Wang".

[1] In 1933, after the Kuomintang expulsion of the CCP from the Jiangxi Soviet, support for the Datong Kindergarten dried up, and Mao and his brother ended up on the streets.

In 1936, Mao was located by Dong and Kang Sheng and taken to Moscow, where he was enrolled with his brother Anqing at Interdom in the Soviet Union under the name "Sergei Yun Fu".

[2] During the Second World War, Anying successfully petitioned Joseph Stalin to allow him and his brother Anqing to join the Soviet Red Army.

[5] In 1946, Mao returned to Yan'an, where he served under Kang Sheng in fighting against the Kuomintang and defeating them in Shanxi Province, reaching the rank of Major General in the People's Liberation Army.

Several conflicting reasons have been given as to why Mao was in the building, including suggestions that he was cooking food during daylight, in violation of Chinese Army regulations,[1][8][11] fetching documents, or sleeping late due to night duties,[9] which had led to him missing breakfast.

[12] Another reason given was that due to the high amount of communications, being the PVA headquarters, the Americans were able to combine aerial reconnaissance with the direction of radio waves, to identify its location.

The Chinese Academy of History, a state-run historical research institute set up in 2019, had denounced the story as rumors spread by those who aimed to disrespect Mao Anying's sacrifice to his country.

The academy, citing declassified documents, stated Mao's position was compromised when the camp's radio transmissions were being intercepted.