Tian'anmen Square

After wandering around the Forbidden City I walked through Tian'anmen Square.  I was really looking forward to it because I vividly remember the pro-democracy protests there in 1989.  I love being in places like the Forbidden City which are so very old...but there is something really amazing to me about being in a place with such recent history.

On one end of the square is the Gate of Heavenly Peace which is pictured above.  In addition to being guarded by soldiers, it is also guarded by two stone lions.

What I found really interesting is that right in the middle of the square is a very busy road...not sure why that is but there is...

And I just realized that the street doesn't look very busy in this picture...hmm...

So a bit of trivia, Tian'anmen Square is actually the largest city square in the world.

You have to go through a security checkpoint in order to enter the square.  Once inside it is really just a big cement square.  There is a memorial in the middle as well as the flag of China that is guarded by three soldiers.  Otherwise, there isn't a heck of a lot to see.  I suspect if there was a public gathering it'd be packed with people but with the amount of security around it there were no homeless people nor people peddling their goods.

At night there is a flag-lowering ceremony.  They actually stop traffic on the busy street for a troop of soldiers to march across and carry it through the Gate of Heavenly Peace.  As soon as the ceremony is over they very quickly...maybe within 10 minutes...they clear the entire square and it is closed until dawn the next morning.

Here are a few night pictures: