Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City and The Great Wall of China! So much history in one week.
For me whenever I go to a new country, I get a little apprehensive. Will it be as friendly as the last place? Will people approve of us or better yet, like us. What are the unspoken rules like? The no eating with the left hand in India had Bud practicing for weeks ahead of time. When entering China, the country that is Communist, I really had some bizarre thoughts. Would people look repressed? Would the police follow our moves more closely? What if the government followed my social media outbursts? As it turned out, Bud and I are way less important than we think we are. We made it in the country just fine. No one seemed to notice us much, let alone the police. Plus the people look normal and sure seem to behave normal. I did have this odd feeling that crime felt like it didn’t really exist there. That feeling mostly came from the hundreds of bikes that are on the sidewalks all over with either no locks or just locks on the tires but not locked to anything. Other things felt a little odd even though I can’t fully explain why. The roads are in great shape and the landscape is very nice and manicured. There is no trash laying around on the ground. There is an abundance of workers everywhere. They are sweeping the sidewalks and streets with brooms (not machines – actual brooms) or they are at the metro station ready to offer help on which metro train to board. On one evening I counted 10 workers on two metro platforms. On a city bus ride there was a driver and a extra attendant that made sure people moved to the back, knew what stop to get off, and didn’t block the aisle. The attendant basically made sure the inside of the bus ran smoothly while the driver focused on the driving. There are always a fair number of security officers or police officers nearby. Some seem more formal then others. There also seem to be many security cameras around on the streets and corners. Even when we went to a museum or tourist destination, there seems to be an abundance of workers. I guess what is unsettling is how in the world do they pay all these people? Then Bud pointed out to me that the Chinese government owns many critical industries that typically we have privatized. For example, if the USA owned Exxon Oil, it would probably be able to employ more people also. China seems to employ many people but for low wages. Unfortunately, only being in Beijing for 2 weeks, I didn’t get all my questions answered. However, we did get to see some great places in Beijing China – Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City and The Great Wall of China. Thank you for your interest and following along on our dream journey. Beth
Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City are pretty much connected. Tiananmen Square is out the front door of the Forbidden City and across the street. I cannot give you a full history lesson on Tiananmen Square because I do not think you are here for that but I will tell you that the uprising on June 4th 1989 resulted in the death of hundreds to thousands of protesters. The protesters blocked the entry of the military to Tiananmen square and the military used assault rifles and tanks to advance. The protesters questioned the legitimacy of the Communist Party and the Communist Party answered by force and repression. It is still not talked about and not a good subject for China.
We also went to the Forbidden City. A world UNESCO site since 1987. It was the Imperial palace from 1420-1912. Consisted of 980 buildings that cover 120 acres. Surrounded by a 26ft high wall that at the base is 28.3ft thick and tapers to the top at 21.9ft thick. It is currently the Palace Museum.
The Great Wall of China. Official length 13,170 miles (6 dynasties worth). Today it is mostly the Ming Dynasty part that is left – 5,500 miles. 2300 years old. Avg height is 25 feet tall with some areas as tall as 45 feet tall. 1/3 has disappeared without a trace. In 1966-1976 during the great cultural revolution many bricks were used in building home, farms, or reservoirs.
