TIANAMEN SQUARE

Tianamen means 'Gate of Heavenly Peace'. The square is reputed to be the largest square in the world. And indeed it was! We were there on a Saturday and the place was packed with humanity!!! I reckoned that there were probably 20,000 people in the square that day! Many of them were tourist from other parts of China, patiently lining up to pay their respect to Mao Tze-Tung in his mausoleum.

The most vivid recollection of Tianamen Square in my mind was that of a chinese man standing in defiance in front of a chinese tank. That was man years ago, during the massive crackdown by the Chinese Authorities on people demanding democratic freedom.

However, on that Saturday, there were no tanks nor were there any demonstrations. It was all peaceful and cold. Standing there amongst the the myriads of people, I felt small. The vastness of the place just overwhelmed me. The buildings were so big, it made our Midvalley Megamall looked like a toilet! With that kind of size and magnitude, it's hard not to feel small.

Don't know where these ladies came from but they sure had colorful clothings.

The National Muzeum

Tianamen Square. The portrait of Mao Tze Tung overhang the entrance to the Forbidden City
The Great Hall of The People
The National Muzeum in Beijing

Chairman Mao's mausoleum in the distance
Part of our tour group.
Feeling cold and hungry in Tianamen Square. Btw, I am wearing here my 'Hugo Boss' jacket bought for a song at a bazaar the night before. Took a bit of bargaining skill to bring the price down from RMB380 to RMB100. It's a nice piece of clothing, very professionally done.
Kite flying in Tianamen Square


Chinese soldiers. There were many of them. I think they were posted to work in the Forbidden City.