Asian Adventure: Cathay Pacific B777-300ER Business Class San Francisco to Hong Kong
Asian Adventure: Cathay Pacific Lounge Review: The Cabin at HKG
Asian Adventure: Cathay Dragon A330-300 Business Class Hong Kong to Beijing
Asian Adventure: Regent Beijing Hotel
Asian Adventure: Beijing - Dongcheng District
Asian Adventure: Beijing - The Great Wall
Asian Adventure: Beijing - Run-ze Jade Garden
Asian Adventure: Beijing - The Sacred Way of the Ming Tombs
Asian Adventure: Beijing - The Legend of Kung Fu
Asian Adventure: Beijing - Tiananmen Square
Asian Adventure: Beijing - The Forbidden City
Asian Adventure: Beijing - Hutong Tour via Rickshaw, Tea Tasting, Flying to Xi’an
Asian Adventure: Hotel Shangri-La Xi’an
Asian Adventure: Xi’an - Qing Dynasty Terra Cotta Warriors
Asian Adventure: Xi’an - Tang Dynasty Dinner and Show
Asian Adventure: Xi’an Wrap-Up, Flying to Lhasa, Lhasa Home Visit
Asian Adventure: Shangri-La Hotel Lhasa
Asian Adventure: Lhasa - Jokhang Temple and Barkhor Market
Asian Adventure: Lhasa - Canggu Nunnery and Sera Monastery
Asian Adventure: Lhasa - Potala Palace
Asian Adventure: Leaving Lhasa and Flying to Chongqing
Asian Adventure: Viking Emerald
Asian Adventure: Shibaozhai Temple
Asian Adventure: Cruising the Three Gorges
Asian Adventure: Three Gorges Dam
Asian Adventure: Jingzhou City Walls Tour
Asian Adventure: Wuhan - Hubei Bells Performance and Provincial Museum
Asian Adventure: Shanghai - Shanghai Museum
Asian Adventure: Fairmont Peace Hotel, Shanghai
Asian Adventure: Shanghai - Old Shanghai and Yuyan Gardens
Asian Adventure: The New Otani Tokyo Hotel
Asian Adventure: Tokyo - City Tour
Asian Adventure: Mt. Fuji and Hakone Tour Returning by Shinkansen
Asian Adventure: ANA Suites Lounge Review, Tokyo Narita
Asian Adventure: All Nippon Airways B777-300ER First Class Tokyo Narita to Houston
We awoke the next morning knowing we had a full day of sightseeing and hoping the rain had stopped, but we were out of luck for most of the morning.
The word "Tiananmen" means "Gate of Heavenly Peace" and in this case the gate is the massive red gate you've seen on TV, the one with Chairman Mao's portrait on it. This gate separates the square from the Forbidden City just to its north. Tiananmen is one of the top ten city squares in the world based on its size, which is 109 acres. A number of notable protests have been held here over the last hundred years or so: one in 1919, another in 1949 when Mao made the proclamation of the People's Republic of China (PRC), in 1976 when the first premier of the PRC died and most recently in 1989 in a scene shared around the world when a man stood in front of a line of tanks. Our guide told us that man disappeared and no one knows what happened to him.
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| Tiananmen Gate at the Forbidden City |
Our tour officially started on Sunday, October 8th, which was just one week after China's National Day. The whole week prior there had been a number of celebrations and this giant floral arrangement was part of that.
Flowers were arranged all along the sides of the squares too. Yes, those red flowers are poinsettias.
The National Museum of China is on the east side of the square. We had heard this is an excellent museum but we did not have time to visit.
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| National Museum of China |
This is the Great Hall of the People, where parliament meets as well as the National Congress of the Communist Party of China. It lies on the west side of the square.
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| Great Hall of the People |
The Zhengyangmen Gate is on the south side, a relic from the time when the city had walls. It was first built during the Ming Dynasty in 1419.
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| Zhengyangmen Gate |
In the center of the square is the Monument to the People's Heroes. At nearly 125 feet tall it memorializes the martyrs of the revolutions in the 19th and 20th centuries.
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| Monument to the People's Heroes |
On the south side of the square is the Mausoleum of Mao or, as it's officially known, the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall. His body was embalmed (even though he wished to be cremated) and is still on display inside a crystal coffin. We did not get to go inside here either.
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| Mao's Tomb |
This huge sculpture is near the tomb. I'm guessing these are working-class people uniting in support of Mao, since his profile is etched into the top of the rock at left.
Lo and behold the rain started to lift just a little bit as we used the tunnel to cross under the busy street separating the square from the Forbidden City. When we exited we still needed our umbrellas for a bit but before too long we'd start drying out a little.
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