We flew from SLC to San Fransisco, had a five hour layover, and then flew another 12 1/2 hours to Beijing. We got to Beijing at about 6:30 in the evening on Thursday. (We lost a day going over, and got it back when we returned) We stayed at the Beijing Marriott City Wall. It is a five star hotel located in the central business district of Beijing. It was completely sold out the night we got there, however our rooms were secured so everything worked out just fine. We all tried to sleep that night (there were 26 people in our tour group) but it was hard to change the rhythm of our bodies and many people woke up early the next morning as a result of jet lag. For the entire trip we were usually out the door onto our bus by around 8 a.m. every morning. Our first day there we went to China's capital - Tiananmen Square. This is where Chairman Mao is "buried", it is also where their "congress" meets and is right next to the Forbidden City. The reason I put the word buried in quotes is that there is a building on Tiananmen Square where people can go see Chairman Mao's body weekdays from 8 a.m. to noon. There was a long line of people waiting for their turn to go in and pay their respects. We were told that the line is always long--and the guy passed away back in 1976! We were also told that you are hurried along-no dilly dallying.
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| This is the building where Chairman Mao is buried |
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| Building in the background is where their government meets |
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| Monument to fallen soldiers |
Another thing that they have on the the square is the building where China's equivalent of congress meets--like our Capital Hill. They also have a monument commemorating all the people who have fought for China. It is similar to our Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, except that they don't have anyone buried there.Probably the most interesting thing on the square are these huge LCD screens. They are about two stories tall and 100 yards wide. I am going to include a short video of what was on the screen while we were there.
This is all I have time for tonight. I'll post more as I'm able. I would love to hear comments!!
