Tiananmen Square & The Forbidden City

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Stephanie, Ritu, Nilam & I toured the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. The Forbidden City was built 600 years ago, requiring more than a million workers and has been the cultural and political focal point in China since. It is the largest surviving palace structure in the world.


Tiananmen Square lies just south of the Forbidden City through the Gate of Heavenly Peace which displays the iconic portrait of Mao Zhedong. Tinanmen Square is the largest urban square in the world. The Mao Mausoleum is on the south end of the square.


I arrived in China during the 20th anniversary of the infamous suppression of the Tiananmen Square protests. I would read China Daily and watch CCTV 9 (the government run english news channel) and saw no mention of Tiananmen Square in the Chinese media. I did read several pieces in the NY Times that looked back at the incident and analyzed China's evolution over the last twenty years. It was really fascinating to study China from the inside. In some ways it reminded me of the US: An insulation that prevents people from understanding the rest of the world, a very narrow spectrum of debate in the mainstream media and an unwillingness or inability to assess its own shortcomings.

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Comments

[Ritu]

NRRS take Beijing!
The post and pics are awesome!!! awe... I miss those carefree days of traveling soo much =(