The hotel is a little strange in that it is also a concert hall venue and there is no reception area with seating so instead we met up on the coach around 8:15 and Raymond gave us the rundown for the day as we waited for the local guide Jack to arrive (there is always a National Escort with groups of our size plus we'll then have a local expert at various places during the tour). Raymond was very keen for us to ignore any pre conceived ideas we may have about his country, particularly those promoted by the BBC (banned in China) and for us to see China through our own eyes over the next 3 weeks. We firstly had to wait for the 22nd member to arrive and her flight was running late, so in the end it was decided she'd meet up with us somewhere on route.
Our first stop was Tiananmen Square, the largest square in the world, and actually it was a bit of a disappointment. I supposed I was expecting a larger version of Ataturk's Mausoleum square in Ankara (Tiananmen Square does of course house Mao Zedong's Mausoleum) but it had no feeling to the place and it didn't really feel like a square either. Maybe if 600,000 had been standing shoulder to shoulder or I could have had a bird's eye view it would have felt different. Here are views of each side:-
Zhengyangmen Gate Tower (now a museum) marking the South end of the square.
Tiananmen gate to the North (leading to the Forbidden City).
Great Hall of the People on the West side of the square.
And the National Museum of China on the East, with the Monument to the People's Heroes in front.
One of the many domestic tourist groups, thank goodness we don't have to wear matching visors or t-shirts.
In the middle of the square is a cordoned off bit and this guy was guarding it - no idea what or why.
Actually on reflection, maybe this picture illustrates its vastness.
Knowing how I hate having "people" in my shots, it's only Day 1 and I've already given up and realised that will be impossible; domestic tourism is huge and quite rightly the Chinese want to visit their own national treasures.
I spotted this little cutie posing for a photo (Mum was aware and quite happy).
And then a bit of patience paid off and I was rewarded with this shot.
Whilst I was taking the shots, this person came by and I wasn't quite sure what it was all about but I love the wide brim hat and helmet combo.
I realise now she/he is a litter picker and what a fantastic piece of kit.
This
totem pole like thing is a Huabiao, a type of ceremonial column used in traditional Chinese architecture and traditionally
erected in pairs in front of palaces and tombs (the Forbidden City in this instance).
A few more shots.
The Ming Dynasty Gate which leads to the Forbidden City.
It was from this gate that Mao proclaimed the founding of the PRC (People's Republic of China) on 1 October 1949
The colours are very pretty but there is no sense of opulence.
Mum visited China in 1998 and so I'm going to include a few photos she took of some places for comparisons purposes. These first two are very similar.
But this one shows a queue (constant according to Mum's diary) of people waiting to file past Mao Zedong's coffin. Fast forward 26 years and apart from a brief "and that building is Mao's memorial hall" there was no sense of him being revered at all.
A close up of the workers statue, one of two flanking the mausoleum, which didn't even get a mention.
Soon after we'd got to the middle of the square, our local guide wanted us all to line up for a group photo which he was then going to put into a book with other photos of China and offer it for sale (at a rather high price I felt). I want to take my own shots so of course we declined but it did make me think perhaps it's because I won't have much opportunity for good shots. Looks like it was also done way back then!
