Cao Guqiang's article on the honeymoon between Mao Zedong and Dalai Lama, published in Over the Party History, a Chinese journal (in translation):-
In 1954, Dalai Lama visited Beijing to participate the first National People's Congress. On September 11, Mao Zedong received Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama for the first time in Zhongnanhai and they had a long talk ... On September 27, Dalai Lama was elected to be the Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the first National People's Congress ... Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama became the youngest state leaders ... Mao Zedong said: "every nation has its own national leader. It is good for Tibet to have leaders like Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama." He also pointed out that in Tibet, people should shout not only "long live Chairman Mao" or "long live Commander-in-Chief Zhu", but also "long live Dalai Lama" and "long live Panchen Lama". They should display not only the portraits of Chairman Mao and Commander-in-Chief Zhu, but also that of Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama. Mao Zedong practised what he preached: when the Tibetan delegates to the National Day ceremony chanted "long live the Communist Party" and "long live Chairman Mao", Mao shouted "long live Dalai Lama" and "long live Panchen Lama".
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(Right to left) Dalai Lama, Mao Zedong, Panchen Lama; photographed by Hou Bo in 1954 in Beijing