Tiananmen Central

In the heart of Beijing lies the infamous Tiananmen Square. It is one of the largest squares in the world and can supposedly hold over half a million people. It is named after the Tiananmen Gate (Gate of Heavenly Peace) located to its north separating it from the Forbidden City. Mao and other Chinese leaders would stand on this gate to speak to the masses or review the parades and military hardware as they rolled by. The Forbidden City was built from 1406 to 1420 by the Ming Dynasty Emperor Zhu Di who used a million workers to construct it. It got its name from nobody being allowed to enter or leave the palace without the emperor's permission. It was the home to 24 emperors (14 of the Ming Dynasty and 10 of the Qing Dynasty) until the last emperor was 'moved out' in 1912. It might even have been destroyed during the Cultural Revolution if Premier Chou Enlai hadn't sent an army battalion to protect it. It is now known as the Palace Museum where over a million historical artifacts are stored. To walk through it can take a whole day since there are endless courtyards and halls and alleyways. There are 980 buildings with many of them having exotic names like 'the Hall of Supreme Harmony', 'the Palace of Tranquil Longevity', 'the Hall of Mental Cultivation', 'the Palace of Heavenly Purity', and so on. We walked through the South Entrance and made our way north through the various Halls and Palaces which are grouped in threes, past the Nine Dragons Screen, and finished with the Imperial Garden before exiting through the North Entrance. Jingshan Hill to the north was created from soil dug up to create the moats surrounding the Forbidden City and is a great place to look down on the historic city as well as the rest of Beijing (smog permitting).

On the western side of the square is the imposing Great Hall of the People which is the official home of the Chinese government. It is huge as all Stalinesque buildings are and despite the gigantic chandeliers and paintings, it feels quite cold, and austere.

On the eastern side is the National Museum of China which is also humongous (it claims to be the largest museum in the world) with lots of space inside. One of the most fascinating displays we dubbed the 'Mao as Messiah' exhibit because of the style of the paintings.

On the south side of the square is the 'Maosoleum' where Mao Zedong lies in state. It is fascinating to observe how the Chinese people feel about their former leader, also known as 'the Great Helmsman'. Despite the fact that he is considered to be one of the cruelest dictators with a body count of 70 million under his 'reign', the official government line is that 'Mao was 70 per cent right and only 30 per cent wrong'. Statues and paintings of him are still everywhere although most people have seemed to move on and don't really care to acknowledge him. You wouldn't know it by the long lineup of people filing by his embalmed body every day or buying Mao related trinkets. And he is still present on every coin or paper currency. Just north of his tomb is the Monument to the People's Heroes where the 1989 student protest headquarters were set up.

Other highlights near Tiananmen Square are the Qianmen Gate to the south, the National Centre for the Performing Arts (also known as the Egg), and the ever present security. We had fun trying to guess which tourists or photographers were actually undercover police officers since this is one part of the world where no demonstration of any kind will take place. There are so many security cameras you'd think you were in London!