Beijing

October 11-14, 2015

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Tiananmen Square Seen in many photos over my life as a political center for the people of China, I could not be in the square without remembering the face-off between a single protester refusing to yield to a government tank. Or all the times I had seen news coverage of Chairman Mao and the "red menace."

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Tomb of the Revolutionary Soldiers This tomb honors the revolutionary soldiers who died to bring the Communist Party in to power.

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3-D Printer Sculpture? I was told by our tour guide, Kelly, that this was made with a 3-D printer. Hmmm... Must have been a big one. I'll have to look that claim up to check it, just as soon as I get Google to work.

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People Did I mention that there were a few other people touring the sights today?

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Famous Painting of Chairman Mao We didn't have time to see the old man "in the flesh." The wait was over an hour to pay homage to his embalmed remains in a crystal sarcophagus. I was reminded of Lenin's tomb in Moscow. What's with communist leaders and crystal sarcophagi?

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Border Gardens

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Flags Waving

Tiananmen Square It was wall-to-wall people and slow-going through Tiananmen Square.

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Door Decoration Tiananmen Square adjoins the Forbidden City, where new China meets old China.

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