Tiananmen Square is a large city square in the center of Beijing, China, named after the Tiananmen Gate (Gate of Heavenly Peace) located to its North, separating it from the Forbidden City. Tiananmen Square is the third largest city square in the world (440,000 m² - 880m by 500m or 109 acres - 960 by 550 yd). It has great cultural significance as it was the site of several important events in Chinese history.
The Tiananmen Gate to the Forbidden City was built in 1415 during the Ming Dynasty. Towards the demise of the Ming Dynasty, heavy fighting between Li Zicheng and the early Qing emperors damaged (or perhaps destroyed) the gate. The Tian'anmen square was designed and built in 1651, and has since enlarged four times its original size in the 1950s.
What I remember about Tiananmen Square is the brutal massacre of hundreds, if not thousands of people back in 1989. Okay, so I did have to look up the year because it sure seemed like it wasn't that long ago. Mark and I met a Marine in Okinawa who was working at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing when the Tiananmen thing happened. Of course China got the journalists out as quickly as possible, but this guy was part of the "cleanup crew" and he said things were horrific. They estimate between 250 to 7000 people were killed. Of course we think that there were probably more than that killed, because the reports said that about 500,000 were part of the protest. Our friend said that it was like a war scene from the movies. He said that tanks had come in and started firing away on the group and the aftermath was unlike anything he'd ever witnessed.
So going to see this place was so different for us than what our tour guide was telling us. He talked about the place as if it were our version of going to see the White House. I asked George, "Isn't this the place where a whole lot of people were killed?" His response was "Oh, well.....we don't really know how many people were killed....." and that was it. It was if he had been told exactly how to respond and react to that question.
Regardless, it was still a great tour and it was really neat to see something so historical.
Our family photo.....of only 4! Soon we will have 6 in our family photos!!
Time to see the Forbidden City!
Grant and Ryan decided to be like all of the Chinese men we kept seeing. When they are hot, they push up their shirts and show their bellies!
The kids hanging out!
This was a 4 star-rated toilet. I would hate to see a 1 star-rated toilet! This one was nasty, had squatty potties and from what I remember we had to have our own tissue!
Everywhere we went in Beijing, the Chinese people would ask if their children could have a picture made with our kids! It was so fun!
See what I meant about the Chinese men and their shirts?
It was a great day! My feet were sore after all of the walking---and because after years of running my feet have caught up with me! It was worth every step!
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