Tiananmen Square

A major road runs between The Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. Before taking the tunnel under the road, we walked to an overlook where we could get a good view of the Tiananmen Square area. We had to go through a metal detector, so we decided to go one at a time.

The picture on the left shows the entrance to the Forbidden City. From the balcony above the photo of Mao, you can see across the road to Tiananmen Square.

Tiananmen Square is a giant open space at the center of the city. Museums are on two sides of the Square including the Great Hall of the People to the west and the Museum of Chinese History to the east. We were running low on time so we decided to save the museums for another time.

The Monument to the People's Heroes is at the center of the Square in remembrance of the soldiers who died in the Revolution (below left). The area was roped off in preparation for a big event. Trucks were bringing in pots of flowers to surround the monument.

South of the monument is the Mao Mausoleum shown below. It was closed the day we visited the Square. There were guards positioned throughout the area. Most were very young men standing very still on small boxes.

Tourists, families, and business people strolled the square. The little girl in the picture enjoyed waving to us. Her grandmother waved too. They wanted to meet Flat Stanley.

There were a few western tourists in the square, but some people were clearly not used to seeing Americans.

The grounds were very clean and well-kept. Huge sculptures are found at the entrances to the mausoleum. They show the struggle for socialism. There were many people trying to sell tourists postcards. We decided to take our own photographs instead.