Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
For many Chinese tourists, gigantic
Tian'anmen Square
is a place of pilgrimage. Crowds
flock to gaze at Chairman Mao's portrait on
Tian'anmen gate
,
then head south to see the
fellow himself (maybe) in his
mausoleum
, quietly bowing their heads by the
Monument to
thePeople'sHeroes
en route. The
square
itself is plain, and rather dull considering - or, per-
haps because of - its colourful recent history. It's sometimes better to look upwards, where
you'll often see incredibly long chains of kites disappearing into Beijing's often soup-like
sky. It's worth popping by at
sunrise
or
sunset
, when the national flag at the northern end of
the square is raised in a military ceremony. Crowds are usually large for both.