The moat and entrance to the Forbidden City

Beijing

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February 7th 2007
Probably the first thing that strikes you about Beijing is how calm it feels. We were expecting absolute craziness from a city with 15 million people, but it is so quiet at times it is eerie. This is particularly true of Tiananmen Square although the large portrait of Mao and the vastness of the place surrounded by imposing Soviet style buildings do tend to stun anyone into silence! For the la ... read more

Asia » China » Beijing

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For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. A... ... read more