The worlds largest public square!It was possibly not the best idea to fit in Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City and the Hutong Village in one day. By the time I got home to my guest house at 21h00 at night I couldn't feel my feet.
Tiananmen Square is where people from all over the world flock to have the obligatory photo taken with the "Great Helmsman's portrait". Chairman Mao conceived the square
to project the enormity of the Communist Party. During the Cultural revolution the chairman, wearing a Red Guard armband, reviewed parades of up to a million people. In 1976 round about one million people jammed the square to pay their last respects to Mao. In 1989 army tanks and soldiers forced pro democracy demonstrators out of the square.The square is laid out on a north-south axis. From the front gate to the south, you first encounter the Chairman Mao's Memorial Hall, then it cuts through the Gate of Heavenly Peace to the north and end's up in the Forbidden City behind it.
In the square itself you stand in the symbolic centre of the Chinese universe. The rectangular arrangement is very similar to that of the Forbidden City, thus paying obeisance to traditional Chinese culture. The ornaments and buildings are Soviet inspired though.
(Great Hall of the People)On the west side of the square is the Great Hall of the People. This is were the Nationals Peoples Congress convenes. This is also where heads of state will meet with Chinese government when on visit to China.
Chairman Mao in all his glory... People in China still to this day admire and look up to him.
The Dragon's that guard the Gate
of Heavenly Peace.
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