Tienanmen Square - 2012

A trip to Beijing would not be complete without a visit to Tienanmen Square.  A very historical place due to the massacre that happened there in 1989.  You can read about it at, Wikipedi_Tiananmen_Square_protests_of_1989.  The conclusion to this event was don't mess with the Chinese government or you could die.  The media in China was very quiet about the event and it wasn't until recently that even the Chinese citizens learned the people died during the protest, some say as much as a few thousand.  

Caomei with her 10 RMB hat on.  The square to
the left and that's Forbidden City way in the
background.

I've now take two trips to the square.  The first was in January when it was empty and the second during the autumn holiday when it was full.  In fact, I tried to go for a run on National day and at about 15 minutes past sunrise, I could hardly walk towards the square due to the 1,000s of people walking my way.  Some kind of flag raising ceremony at sunrise.  






But in the square you can see Chairman Mau in the mosuleum, you can see the flag, we say a massive pot of flowers and you can see massive amounts of people (in October).

Here was the Square in the winter.

Those red signs are screens showing scenes from China.

Here's a similar view during the October holiday.  It was ugly!!

There was a beautiful vase
of live flowers
spilling over the sides.