天Tian=Sky or Heaven
安An=Safe or Peace
门Men=Door or Gate.
Thus, Tian'an'men means Gate of Heavenly Peace!
Tian'an'men Square is literally a square that encircles (er, boxes in) the Forbidden City. And this was to be our first stop in China. Considering that this is the largest urban square in the world (and could hold one million people shoulder-to-shoulder), Tian'an'men was not terribly crowded during our trek. Later on in the day, in the Forbidden City, would we experience dense crowds.
Call it what you may, but I have this obsession about Asian couples. I find them to be extremely adorable, so it was my goal to spot out as many Chinese couples as possible and to take photos. This was the first couple I found. Cute, right! ^-^
As we walked toward the main gate, we paralleled an outside street. To my utter amazement, I saw a "Public Toilets" building. Throughout the journey in China, I would occasionally find "public toilet" buildings. Usually, one could just walk into hotels and use the facilities without asking. (It was actually quite common to do so!)
The officers, workers, police, and so forth, left a strong impression on me. Every time I saw them, their posture would be outstandingly perfect, their emotions void, and often times their eyes unwandering. I can only imagine the great deal of self-control that would be required in order to perfect this.
A part of Tian'an'men Square that we did not visit was The Chairman Mao Memorial Hall (also known as Mao's Tomb). On average, there is a line that lasts two hours before entering the tomb. The tomb holds the body of Mao on display. All cameras and video cameras are strictly prohibited inside the tomb, and will be taken away.
As I had mentioned in my previous blog post, China is very proud that the 2008 Olympics were held in Beijing. This pride can be found in all sorts of places: on billboards, on water bottles, on the back of bus seats, on complimentary hotel items, et cetera.
You can also notice that many women will carry umbrellas although it is not raining. The image of a 'beautiful' girl in China is one that is pale, thin, and small. Umbrellas are carried on sunny days to protect a girl's skin from easily tanning under the harsh sunlight.
Soon we stood outside the main gate of Tian'an'men Square, and a professional photographer took a group photo of our delegation. You could buy the photo along with a book about Beijing and it would later be delivered to our hotel. That was the first purchase I made.
While the cameraman collected the orders, a Chinese man approached Phoebe and asked her a question. Phoebe then turned to me and asked my name. "Stephanie, you have just made a Chinese friend and he would like to take a photo with you."
The high school I attend has a Chinese program, and a few teachers and principals had traveled to China before. One thing that one of my teachers had vividly recalled was how Chinese loved to take photos with foreigners. This was especially true if the foreigner was a beautiful, blond, blue-eyed woman.
So the idea wasn't too far-fetched for me to understand, but at the same time I was shocked and honoured that I was being asked for a photograph.
The main gate includes a portrait of former Chairman Mao. The portrait is exchanged annually with a new portrait. Phoebe had commented that the "Mao was younger this year than he was last year!" The portrait aged him to be in the forties but last year the portrait depicted Mao to be in his sixties. Interesting!
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