China: Beijing - Tian'anmen Square and the Forbidden City

An important place to visit for us was Tian'anmen Square, a large public square in the middle of Beijing. It is the site of the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall aka the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong.

The square is also infamous for a series of illegal political protests staged here in 1989, where many citizens were killed by the brutal crackdown of the military. It is the site of a famous photo with a single protestor in defiance, standing in front of a row of advancing tanks.

We walked down from our accomodation to the the South Gate.

The South Gate sits at the the southern edge of the square, and is formerly the front gate of the Imperial City.

This is the original entrance gate, part of the wall that surrounded the ancient city. Only sections and ruins of the wall remain, but this gate is well preserved.

This imperial guard lion also sits by the gate. We were able to visit inside the south gate.

After paying a small fee, we climbed the stairs into the main room in the archery bulding on top of the gate. The color scheme inside and out matches!

The archery building is now a museum, with photos and details the history of Beijing: the rulers, the Forbidden City, the surrounding wall etc.

Princess poses outside on top of the gate. The detail and color is amazing and intricate.

From the gate, you look over the square straight to Chairman Maos' Mausoleum. Below, you can see the constant stream of visitors coming out.

After buying some appropriate footwear from a nearby shop (sandals are not very respectful), we queued up and also filed through the mausoleum to see Mao. They were very strict on what you could take inside, so our stuff was all in lockers - no camera. It was like airport security, and very busy!

Apparently Mao may have been a wax duplicate, but we filed past quickly and not too close so it was hard to judge.

Walking around the square we saw lots of flower arrangement and hedge-work for the 2008 olympics next year.

The Great (hedge) Wall is an impressive feat!

On the north edge of the square is the Forbidden City. The outerwall on this edge has some nice gardens with bright colors.



This is Tian'anmen, (Literally: the Gate of Heavenly Peace) the south gate to the Forbidden City. It lends its name to Tian'anmen square, where we have just been and which it borders.

There are lots of respectful reminders of Chairman Mao!



The guards outside were at attention, and happy to be in a picture. Toolman played the fool ...

This haubiao (ceremonial column) stands outside the gate. It was errected during the Ming Dynasty in the 15th century.

We freely enter under Tian'anmen gate into a courtyard used for ticket sales and tour guide grouping.

Guards were practising their marching drills in the courtyard as we watched and queued for our tickets.

With tickets in hand, we head in to the Meridian Gate (above). Check out the group on the right all wearing red hats - tour groups all wear matching coloured hats, and follow a guide carrying a matching flag.

Toolman poses on the west edge of the courtyard south of the Gate of Supreme Harmony. There are a couple of large courts, and some could (and probably have) hosted some spectacular sized gatherings.

Toolmans stands in front of the Hall of Military Eminence.

Ornate decoration and style common to the Forbidden City and to the south gate we visited earlier.

We walked past this area that has lots of leftover or damaged imperial guard lions.

Toolman wanders back into one of the Gate of Supreme Harmony courtyard.



Princess looks in to one of the many exhibitions. The whole site is a museum, and many buildings are used for exhibiting.

There is an amazing range of interesting items, such as this large ceremonial drum.

There is also plenty of armor and weapons on display from important periods in Chinas' history.

Toolman inspects a lantern designed to be carried in procession.

Princess poses between rooms containing these treasures.

There is plenty of ceramic and bronzeware on display.



There is also plenty of important clothing from Chinese history.

As we exit we note this overside handle; the huge brass pot it is attached to is huge and would take many men to carry.

This throne room is decorated in regal yellow material.

The roof is also magnificently decorated with gold and green.

As we head on to another room, we pass this bronze imperial guard lion, with a baby lion under its paw!

In another room, we find lots of mechanical items, such as this astronomical device.

An old model train, which was a gift to Chinese royalty.



The museum host a vast large collection of over 1000 antique clocks.



Many were gifts from other nations, but plenty are of Chinese origin also.



This clock is supported by golden elephants.

Here we are looking out at the outer gate of the Palace of Heavenly Purity, from the northern end of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Closer to the gate, we inspect the brass guard lions. These ones have balls in their claws.

Looking back over the lions, we see stairs back to the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

The main temple at the center of the Palace of Heavenly Purity.

This is a throne inside one of the many rooms in the temple.

All of the buildings in the Forbidden City follow a common style; ceramic tiled roofs, the same color scheme and architecture.



There are subtle differences and unique adornments, such as these roof statuettes. The quantity indicates the status of the building.

As we head to the northern end, we pass this bronze turtle.

Princess shows the scale of this huge dragon carving as we continue north.



A close up of the dragon - Raaar!

Here at the northern end of the city are two circular temples in the Imperial Garden. This is in contrast to the square style favored in the Forbidden City.

The imperial garden also has a wonderful rock hill with a temple on top.

The rock appears to be natural, with the temple and steps carefully constructed on top.

The gardens are full of trees and plants - many emperors spent time pondering in here.

Princess looks at the waterways to see a school of goldfish swimming about below.

The large number of buildings, each with such detail, is very impressive. Its unfortunate that its no longer a living city; all the ceremony and regality that it once hosted has gone, demoted to being a tourist attraction.

Stay tuned.