Prelude
Day Two in Beijing began in the pre-dawn darkness when the tour guide met us at our hotel and we boarded a bus and set off to visit The Big Three - the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace. What we didn't know is that our tour would also include the infamous Tienamen Square! I like to think of our tour as Beijing 101 - Introduction to Beijing, laying the groundwork for seeing it in more depth in future visits!
The bus stopped at a few other hotels and picked up other people who were on the tour that day. There were about 14 in all, including a visiting Western businesswoman whose host company had arranged a day of sightseeing for her. She was unprepared for the frigid weather, which became a problem for her when we got to the Summer Palace, but that story will come in a later posting, The Summer Palace. Read on!
One of the sights we saw somewhere along the way to our first stop, taken in the dim early morning light, through the bus window. 0499
After driving through the city streets, the bus finally parked and when we got off, our tour guide took off at a fast pace, saying the Forbidden City wasn't too far away. We walked along a sidewalk parallel to a street starting to fill with early morning traffic, then crossed an intersection to a huge, paved open area.
Gathering his flock around him, our guide announced - to my surprise - that we were at Tienamen Square! He pointed out the monument in its center, the large government and other buildings located on its perimeters and across several streets and directed our attention to the entrance to The Forbidden City, across a street to our left.
He said not one word about the horrific events that took place there "3-4 June 1989, when more than 1,000 unarmed protesters were killed by government troops in a massacre that crushed China's emerging pro-democracy movement." (Source: The Fairfax Free Dictionary, http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/Tiennamen+square). He also never, during the entire day, mentioned Chairman Mao, another surprise for me.
Tienamen Square
At the center of the paved Square is the People's Heroes monument, a tall plinth with Chinese calligraphy lettering down the sides. We didn't go near the monument so I don't have any closeup photos of it. We actually didn't go to any of the nearby places because we were scheduled for the Forbidden City, so I just took photos of all the places I could see from where we stood.
People's Heroes Monument at the center 0f Tiennamen Square 0502
View to the north, showing the line of China's red national flags. 0504
Central building and right wing of the national parliament building, also known as the Great Hall of the People, to the West. Note all the flags flying from the roof. 0505
Left side of the above building, also with national flags flying from the roof. 0506
The Great Hall. I like the architectural style. 0507
Chairman Mao Memorial Building. 0508
A wall; possibly the far side of the Gate of Heavenly Peace building. 0509
Closeup of all the flags flying. 0510
Buildings beside the Great Hall. 0511
The National Museum, also with flags flying. 0512
Closeup of the flags waving in the morning wind. 0514
Close-up of the Seal. 0515
Three flags flying, with the large star and small stars in a semi-circle visible on the center flag. I took several photos to get one that showed the symbols clearly. 0516
Detail above the column capitals on the National Museum. 0517
Buveh at Tienamen Square! 0518
Unique light fixtures on pole. We passed this as we turned to the left and started walking toward the entrance to the Forbidden City. 0522
View of Gate of Heavenly Peace, entrance to the Forbidden City. It is located across the street from Tienamen Square. 0524
Closer view of the gate; we are walking toward it now. 0525
Descriptions of our tour of the Forbidden City are described in my next two postings, The Forbidden City, Part One and The Forbidden City, Part Two.
