The thing that sticks out about this site is its size. The museum is enormous, and we spent an hour and a half there, walking mostly straight from the front to the back. We went to one side room, waited in line once to see an inner room, and took a couple of pictures. However for the most part it was just a straight shot back. Yet to both the left and the right, the city expanded into side rooms and pathways. Here's a picture of just a portion of the city, after we had already walked through three or four gates.
The architecture was really intersting, and is obviously in the traditional Chinese style. We also saw some traditional wedding clothes, and one of the room's where the emperor greeted guests.
I honestly don't have enough knowledge of Chinese dynastic history to truly appreciate this site, but given that it was once the seat of power for the Chinese government and off limits to the Chinese people, I count it as a worthwhile excursion.
Just south of the Forbidden City is Tiananmen Square. This of course is famous for the incident in which student lead protests ended in death and destruction, as the Chinese government brought out tanks to stop the protesters. Hundreds of people were killed.
Today it is an open area where people can walk around with their families and look at monuments dedicated to the Communist victory and in China’s Civil War. The square itself is enormous. During my days in Beijing, the square was always full of people who just seemed to be out enjoying the day. To get in the square, you do need to pass through security in which the guards scan any bags you are carrying. But these lines move along pretty quickly, in order to keep the traffic light.
Tiananmen Square at night. It closes to the public in the early evening, but is beautifully lit up at night.
In the square are several monuments, including one dedicated to The People’s Heroes.
One that commemorates the Communist victory in their civil war.
And Chairman Moa Memorial Hall.
Inside Chairman Mao Memorial Hall is the body of Mao Zedong, preserved and on display. Before coming to Beijing, I decided that this was a must to go see this historical figure, knowing we would have to wait in line to see him. This proved to be true.
On Thursday morning we got in a line that wrapped all the way around the Memorial Hall. We had to pay to leave cameras and bags in nearby lockers, and had to show our passports as a form of ID. We went through security checks and ended up waiting close to an hour.
Once inside the hall, there was a giant display of Mao’s picture and many flowers below it. There was a reverent feel and people who talked were told to hush up. The line then broke into two parts, as we entered the room containing Mao’s body.
At this point the atmosphere seemed to change a little bit. There was a guard who spoke loudly and told the people to keep moving. The room was no longer silent, but rather people mumbled and murmured a bit as they walked by the body.
There was a glass top covering the casket, allowing the curious crowds to see the body of this Chinese leader. His skin looked rather fake and like plastic, no doubt due to efforts to preserve his body. The lower half of his body had a Communist flag laying over it like a blanket.
This is the second body of a world leader that I have seen. Last year in Vietnam I gazed upon the body of Uncle Ho, the Communist leader of that country. As I recall, both men had skin that looked fake and were sitting in caskets with glass covering, allowing the public to see them. However, Uncle Ho’s room was much quieter. There were at least four guards surrounding his body and the room was silent when we walked through. I was surprised at the contrasting feel at Mao’s Memorial Hall.
No comments:
Post a Comment