China Trip, Day 1, Part 2 - Tiananmen Square

The South end of Tiananmen Square. This is the largest public square in the world, able to fit 1,000,000 people at a time (like during the protests of 1989 when the square was filled with reformists and tanks). It was HOT, so the kids weren't too happy. The Great Hall of the People, home of the National People's Congress, on the west side of the square, where China's form of democracy takes place. Lines of Red flags, commemmorating the three days of National Mourning for the quake victims. Our Chinese tour guide also informed us that red stands for happiness, peace, and prosperity. (and communism).

Gate of Heavenly Peace, adorned w/ portrait of Chairman Mao. This is the north boundary of the square and leads to the Forbidden City. This is where Mao would sit and review his Red Guard.

China National Museum w/ countdown clock for 2008 Olympics, set to kick off at 0800 on 8 Aug 08. Our guide told us the number 8 is good luck in the Chinese culture.

Monument to the People's Heroes, sits in front of the Chairman Mao memorial Hall. Notice the closed-circuit television camera to the left of the monument.

Mike & Sam w/ Chinese National Policeman. They're a lot like the guards at Buckingham Palace. This one smiled at Avary though. Their job is a little different too - stop protests and demonstrations.

Here is a little video. It just gives you an idea of the size of the square, although you can't see the whole thing from where we are standing. Also, notice the people standing nearby with their cameras aimed directly at us. I guess American kids are quite popular in both Korea and China, because Avary and Sam get tons of attention whenever we are around Koreans here, and it was no different in China. While I was filming this video, we ended up with three people standing in front of us at the same time, all taking pictures. As we began to walk, they followed us with their cameras and got a few more shots. I sort of felt like a celebrity... either that, or like we had done something wrong and the National Police were going to show up at our hotel room that night to haul us off. But, really I know that they just want some pictures of some little blue-eyed American babies. And its not at all uncommon (both here in Korea, and during our trip in China) for people to pose next to our kids for a picture. There were also a lot of people in China getting their pictures taken with American adults. I think they were often Chinese poeple that were visiting Beijing from more rural areas of China, and that may have been their first time seeing a foreigner in real life.