Tiananmen translates to heavenly peace. I couldn’t help but remember what happened in 1989 during the student protest in the square---where was the peace then?
Tiananmen Square’s 100 paved acres can hold a million people at any one time. Described as a vast desert of pavement in the heart of Beijing, Tiananmen is the largest public square in the world and where Chairman Mao reviewed parades. A giant portrait of Mao hangs above the Gate of Heavenly Peace watching over the square looking down on Memorial Hall where the chairman is entombed in a crystal sarcophagus.
Our guide mentioned, “The flag is raised here each morning at sunrise. A troop of PLA soldiers march at precisely 108 paces per minute. It is quite impressive.”
Well, that stirred my curiosity. Since sunrise was about 5:30 AM I got up early one morning for the walk to the square. Our hotel was two long blocks away on a busy street so I had no qualms about this. However, my roommate wasn’t about to let me go alone, so she got up early also. To our surprise a young couple on the trip joined us in the hotel lobby before we started off.
We’d heard the square was crowded in the evening, but I expected only a small crowd of maybe 300-400 people in the morning. What a surprise it was to see about 3000 people quietly waiting as we approached. It seemed the four of us were the only white people, and as someone said, “It’s hard to blend into the crowd in China, especially with Carol’s long blond hair.”
I remarked, “We’d better be on our best behavior. It’s kind of fun to watch the people watching us.”
With eyes straight ahead, the small group of soldiers marched onto the square in prim military precision. After attaching the flag it electronically rose very slowly to the top. After securing the line to the pole, the soldiers did an about face and marched off the square.
As we walked back to the hotel through a new park it became evident that it was going to be another clear, smog-free day in Beijing. How lucky could we get!
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