Bursting onto Beijing: Tiananmen Square

Arrived in Beijing early this morning, and hit the ground running. Our guide's American name was Michael (as in Jordan, not Jackson he told us). Nice guy, but he spoke with a slightly disturbing lisp that made him seem a little effeminate/childish. When we boarded the bus, there was plenty of room to spare. I probably would have taken a seat near the front, but Pilgrimgirl's prosthetic/bionic leg had frozen on the plane (YIKES!), so she took the last row of seats so she could rest her leg in a comfortable position, and her mother and I joined her. As it was, we each had four seats each to relax and lay our things down on, so it was quite comfy.

Passed by the first train station in Beijing, which was constructed 150 years ago during the opium wars.

Our first stop was Tiananmen Square. One of the reasons I didn't blog on the trip was that we were told that there have been times when blogs and/or emails which were not favorable to China were intercepted, and never made it to their destinations. None of us wanted trouble, so we were careful about what we did and wrote.

So, TS was initally the site of numerous government offices, as it faces the south entrance to the Forbidden City. However, Mao Tse Tung had the offices torn down and had the enormous square constructed in its place. In the square now are Tiananmen Tower, Monument to the People's Heroes, Great Hall of the People, and Mao Zedong Memorial Hall. The Memorial Hall used to be the Mausoleum, but the body was moved in 1985 to an unspecified location.

Seems hard to believe that the massacre was so long ago ... 6/4/1989. Even today. the military presence is palpable. All the lights are equipped with surveillance equipment. Soldiers patrol, and seem to randomly bark at people who seem to gathering in any one place.

Toward the end of our time there, the soldiers started herding everyone out of the square. We heard rumors that it was due to visiting Yugoslavian dignitaries. As I turned around to get one last photo, the deserted square gave me the chills. Ironically, Michael told us that Tiananmen means heavenly peace.