Sooooo… Here I am, in Beijing. Also known by many (foreign) people as Peking. I got a very good located hostel, very nice atmosphere… but freezing in Winter, because it was not that well neither isolated nor heated, and the temperature was slightly low: my first day we had a windy day with -16ºC. The second coldest temperature in my life (the other one was in… out of the scope of this post).

Well, as I was saying, the hostel was really well located, in the middle of Beijing, next to Tiananmen Square. Probably, most of you have heard about this square, famous for the protests which took place here in 1989 (with a great picture of a student stopping a lane of tanks) and for holding a record: the biggest square in the world.

Well, this is the geographical center of Beijing, and they also pretend to place it as the center of China, but it is too eastern… But it does not matter, they have the zero point of the chinese highways there.

In the south of the square, you can see one of the old gates of the city, the Front Gate. Next to this gate to the north, you can find Mao Zedong‘s mausoleum, which I did not visit… because I would have had to queue! And because I am not eager to see dead bodies for free… or even worse, paying!

In the north side, you can find the Forbidden City, but before getting there, the National Flag flutters in front of Mao Zedong’s portrait, guarding the Gate of Heavenly Peace leading to the Forbidden City. To both sides, two stands wait for a crowd ready to see a parade, for example (1, 2, 3, repita otra vez), a militar parade. Anyway, this square was built with political purposes…

And they are doing great, with the combination of flags, Mao’s images, the well preserved doors, the Great Hall of the People, one of the main buildings for the People’s Republic of China and the Communist Party.

I went through this square everyday… and I was always thinking the impression it must cause to see that square full… either with people or with other stuff… Is it possible at all?