Tiananmen Square, Beijing China

Tuesday, December 09, 2014

Walk with Cham at Tiananmen Square

Tiananmen Square

The Tiananmen Square was the very first attraction we visited on our first day in Beijing. Everyone who goes to the Forbidden City visits the Tiananmen Square first. So that was what we did.

Tiananmen Square is just at the south area of Forbidden City. It is the largest city square in the world with an area of 440,000 square meters where millions of people can fit. It is famous for Chairman Mao's portrait at the Tiananmen Gate.

Opening Hours
Daily at 5:00 am - 10:00 pm

Fee
Entering the square is free of charge

How to go to Tiananmen Square
We took the Subway Line 1 then got off at Tiananmen East Station (you can also opt to exit at Tiananmen West Station) walked our way to a path of trees until we reached a queue of people making their way to the entrance of the Tiananmen Square. Before entering expect a big crowd with high level of security. Police with metal detectors inspected each person and sometimes asked for their passports. Our bags were also checked through x-ray machines.

Troops

Probably the reason why they have maximum level of security is because the Tiananmen Square had been the area of political events and protests in the past. Two of which were the 1989 Protest where a photo of an unidentified man standing in front of four moving tanks  became an icon in fighting against the government. And of course the most famous event was the proclamation of the People's Republic of China by Mao Zedong the year 1949.

The place was indeed crowded, kinda reminded me of Luneta in Manila where you can see people strolling and taking photos, vendors were everywhere.

Be Careful with Street Vendors
When we entered the square a flock of local vendors approached my parents asking them to buy items such as hats, scarves and gloves and since my parents were freezing already they bought a pair of gloves each. At first the price was 40 CNY (P290) good thing they know how to haggle and was able to ask for a last price of 10 CNY (P73). Although it was cheap, when I saw it on my mom's, it looked big (twice as big as her hands perhaps!) 

Mama with her new XL gloves

Aside from the crowd, vendors and police, the area is surrounded by notable landmarks.

Monument to People's Heroes
At the center of the square stands the Monument of People's Heroes. It is in commemoration of all the martyrs who sacrificed their lives for their fellow countrymen.

Chairman Mao Memorial Hall
At the south area is where Chairman Mao Memorial Hall is located. Mao Zedong is the first chairman of the People's Republic of China. Here in this hall you can see the remains of the chairman on crystal coffin. No pictures are allowed and I read that the security is twice as high as the entrance plus they will ask you to leave your belongings at the counter so we opted not to check it out.

Monument to People's Heroes & Chairman Mao Memorial Hall

National Museum of China
You can see the National Museum of China at the east area of the square. The museum has great collections of artifacts on Chinese art and history.

National Museum of China

Great Hall of the People
At the west side is the Great Hall of the People where the National People's Congress meetings are held.

Great Hall of the People

Tiananmen Tower or Gate of Heavenly Place
Tiananmen Tower can be seen at the north area. It has a big portrait photo of Chairman Mao because that was the area where the actual proclamation of the People's Republic of China took place.

Tiananmen Tower of Gate of Heavenly Place

The flag raising ceremony is a must when visiting Beijing, but you have to get up early and should be at the square before sunrise. Getting up really early was not an option for us though. LOL.

Three's a crowd?

For this particular day I wore the following:
Houndstooth Coat from Folded & Hung (I got this on sale for a really cheap price of P500)
Leather Leggings from Mint which I purchased a couple of years ago
Big Kitty Sunnies from georginasasha.com  (P300)
Black Sling Bag from H&M Tokyo (I bought this on sale for P600)
Scarf from Greenhills Tiangge
Black Boots from Shanghai Tiangge 


Beijing #OOTD

After the quick stroll at the square we then walked up north to have a closer look at the Tiananmen Tower and so we can finally enter the Forbidden City.

Up close

Seemed to be a hard job standing up for hours.


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RIO DE JANEIRO BRAZIL

RIO DE JANEIRO BRAZIL