Communism, like most other ideologies, is a religion surrogate, anyway.
True, but I've not found many other "religion surrogates" that mimic the trappings so perfectly that the pigs and the men truly are indistinguishable, at the risk of abusing an Orwellian metaphor.
As for Xi, I haven't seen any altars to him like the ones I saw to Mao, but religious believers throughout rural China are being told "no more financial aid from the government unless you replace all religious icons in your homes with portraits of Xi."
Yeah, I read that about Christian churches, mosques & Tibetan temples. Didn't know that it would be applied to pretty much anyone religious.