These next days are mostly pictures of Beijing with very little narrative.   After all I’m truly on a holiday.

We were bused to Tiananmen Square in Beijing which is the largest public square in the world. The Chinese believe in demonstrations and petitioning as a way of changing their government, and this is where they held some very large demonstrations. Tiananmen Square can hold a million people.

 

 

 

The most famous demonstration we know about was the one in 1989 when the students of Beijing demonstrated. You might remember the photo of the lone student standing in front of a line of very large Chinese tanks.  He refused to move.

 

 

 

 

We entered the square next to its southernmost gate. These are the gates to the ancient inner city of Beijing,  The old walls are gone, and only the gates remain. North of this area is Mao Zedong’s mausoleum and their Parliament called The Great Hall of the People.

 

 

 

 

Continuing north all the way to the Forbidden City which is at the north end of Tiananmen Square, we passed through several more old city gates, which were walls within walls.

 

One gate had a big picture of Chairman Mao Zedong over its central meridian entrance.  There is a meridian line which runs through this square that only the Emperor could use before the revolution.  This gate is the Tiananmen Gate.  Tiananmen means Gate of the Heavenly Peace.

 

 

 

 

We walked through it, right down the meridian line until we reached The Forbidden City.

 

 

 

 

As you walk north each gate held back certain classes of people until only the emperor and his concubines and staff  were allowed to enter The Forbidden City.  Male members of his staff were eunuchs.  I’m sure you can guess why.

 

 

We spent time in The Forbidden City and learned a lot about the emperors and those who were allowed into the inner city. All I can say is he had a lot of concubines and each of them had their own palace.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By the way the Forbidden City has 9,999 rooms. The number nine is important to them.  We did not go into the rooms, but could look in their windows.

 

 

 

 

I really do want to watch the movie “The Last Emperor” again. The Forbidden City operated as China’s seat of power during five centuries of Chinese dynasties from 1368 to 1911.

 

 

 

 

By the end of the tour we had walked a little over five miles. The weather was in the high 80s but very humid. Everyone walks with a parasol or sunbrella so I got my umbrella out. Saved my day. I don’t know why we don’t use these more in Florida.