3 days in Beijing- 10/28/2023-10/30/2023
Day 1
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Day 1-Cont.
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Day 2 |
Day 2 -cont
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Day 3 Beijing City Center |
Tiananmen Square-10/29/2023
Tiananmen square is a city square in the center of Beijing and is one of the largest square in the world. Tiananmen Square was originally designed and built in 1651 and was enlarged to four times its original size and cemented over in 1958. It covers an area of 100 acres, and each flagstone is numbered for ease in assembly of parades. The square derives its name from the massive stone Tiananmen “Gate of Heavenly Peace” was once the main gate to the Forbidden City.
We are headed to Tiananmen square. Ahead is the Zhengyangmen Gate Tower Marking the south end of Tiananmen square.
The Chairman Mao Memorial also known as the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, is the final resting place of Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party from 1943 and the Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party from 1945 until his death in 1976.
Although Mao had wished to be cremated, his wishes were ignored and his body was embalmed. The construction of a memorial hall as his final resting place began shortly after his death. This highly popular attraction is located in the middle of Tiananmen Square.
We were lucky to visit the Tiananmen square off season as there are barely anybody around and we were able to zoom through quite fast.
Historic building along the way to Tiananmen square
Check point before entering the square.
On the left is the Monument to the People's Heroes and on the right is the National Museum of China
The square is so big that it is impossible to capture the totality of the square in one shot.
The Monument to the People's Heroes is a ten-story obelisk that was erected as a national monument of China to the martyrs of revolutionary struggle during the 19th and 20th centuries. It is located in the southern part of Tiananmen Square and in front of the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong.
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The obelisk monument was built in accordance with a resolution of the First Plenary Session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) adopted on November 30, 1949, with construction lasting from August 1952 to May 1958.
The granite Monument to the People's Heroes has eight large relief sculptures showing the development of people in Chinese modern history. Two rows of white marble railings enclose the monument.
The monument is about 124 ft. high, sitting south to north
The Great Hall of the People on the west side of the square
This building was erected in 1959 and is the site of the China National People's Congress meetings and provides an impressive site for other political and diplomatic activities. Twelve marble posts are in front of the Hall which has three parts: the Central Hall, the Great Auditorium and a Banqueting Hall. The floor of the Central Hall is paved with marble and crystal lamps hang from the ceiling. The Great Auditorium behind the Central Hall seats 10,000. The Banqueting Hall is a huge hall with 5,000 seats.
The National Museum of China on the east side of the square.
The National Museum of China was built in 2003 and is a combination of Chinese History Museum and Chinese Revolutionary Museum. Inside the Chinese Revolutionary Museum are a lot of material objects, pictures, books and models to present the development of modern China. The Chinese History Museum shows a large number of cultural relics illustrating the long history and glorious culture of China from 1,700,000 years ago to 1921 when the last emperor left the throne.
We are now headed to the Gate of Heavenly Peace
There are so many cameras on the square and they are located on top of the street lamps.
The Gate of Heavenly Peace is a huge building measuring 216 ft. long and 121 ft. wide and 104 ft. high.
It was opened up to the public on the first day of 2012. Five thousand visitors were lucky to step up there and view the national flag rising that day. That was the first time the stands open up free to the public for since January 1, 1988. The reviewing stands now are available to group reservations for the opening day on the first day of each month. Only group reservations via local travel agencies are acceptable and should be submitted online before the 15th day of the previous month.
Chinese minority group with colorful costume visiting Tiananmen square.
We are now leaving the square.
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There is a police station right next to Tiananmen square and we stumbled on a police assembly.
The Former Legation Quarter, also known as the Dong Jiao Min Xiang Diplomatic Compound, is a historic area located along the Dongcheng District in Beijing.
After the Second Opium War in 1860, permanent British, French, American, and Russian legations were established on Dongjiangmi Lane. Other countries followed suit, making this hutong which is a narrow lane in a traditional residential area of a Chinese city, the Legation Street. When more and more foreigners had settled, a number of foreign banks, French post office, and western hospitals opened shop and known as the Western area.
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East of Tiananmen Square is the former Foreign Legation
Quarter, a western enclave home to 11 European embassies and off-limits to
Chinese in its colonial heyday in the late nineteenth century and early
twentieth century. Although many of the buildings were destroyed in the
Boxer Rebellion of 1900 and others have been converted for state use since,
a visit here may is like witnessing how the European came and built in China
in the 19th century.
The former Japanese Yokohama Specie Bank Ltd. is a beautiful building with a red roof.
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The former Japanese Yokohama Specie Bank Ltd. Built after the Boxer
Rebellion in 1910, this is one of most impressive western-style buildings in
the Former Legation Quarter. It's now home to the China Court Museum
Beijing DongJiaoMinxiang hotel is a world-famous historical and cultural building in Beijing and is located in the core of dongjiaomin lane, close to Tiananmen, and the Forbidden City.
The former Site of the French Post Office
The former Site of the French Post Office is a grey brick building served as the French Post Office in the early 20the century.
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Chinese people loves taking pictures and a lot of them will hire professional photographers and they will dressed up to take pictures just like the one on the left.
I can't remember but I think it is one if the former European embassy.
St Michael Church was formerly located in the French Legation of Beijing on Taijichang street is a Gothic church and as built in 1901. There are many Christians among the foreigners in this area and in order to provide a place for them to worship, the church built this Catholic church here,
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After 1949, when foreign missionaries left the mainland, St. Michael's Church belonged to the Beijing Diocese. Father Yao Guangyu and Father Zhang Yongshan presided over educational instruction, and the believers were all Chinese. In 1958, St. Michael's Church was forced to close and was used as a primary school site. At present, the Catholic Church in Beijing Legation Quarter not only carries out a ministry of evangelism but also participates in various social undertakings.
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We are done visiting the area and we are headed to the Temple of Heaven.
Next...Temple of Heaven