Tiananmen Square: Where the History Happened

Everyone went out to see Tiananmen Square. Again. We took the subway and got to there sometime in the afternoon.  We got some drinks right off the bat since we left them at home and a man approached us, trying to sell us a fan for $20.00! No matter how many times we told him no, he kept on following us.  Luckily, we got rid of him after a few minutes.  A fan for $20, really?

We walked around the whole square as Mother and Father told us about the history.  We went into the Zhengyangmen Gate Tower (a.k.a. Qianmen), even though there was a sign saying it was closed. (This seems to be a recurring theme in China).  After Father did some asking around, we found out it was open.  We didn't go into any other buildings but did get to see everything from the outside, including the National Museum of China, the Great Hall of the People, the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, and the Monument to the People's Heroes.

The Forbidden City entrance lit up

Once we saw the whole square, we went to the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA).  Plus, Lonely Planet suggests checking out this "...massive mercury beadIt took a while to find the entrance because Tiananmen square and some side roads was blocked for "special occasion" (the police cleared everyone out), but we did eventually.  We spent an hour in the inside, checking out the opera house before leaving to get some food. Mother commented that it had the best toilet in China by far. Perhaps father will take us back for a performance sometimes in the not too distant future?

Brother #3 and the Baby in front of the NCPA

We went a very small noodle shop for dinner. After eating, we went to nearby Zhongshan park to kill time in order to avoid rush hour.  There wasn't much to do since it was pretty late, but the park was nice looking and fun to walk around in. And did I mention, entrance fee was only $.50??

Brother #2

We walked around for around two hours and left a little bit before rush hour ends.  At this time, all the buildings and monuments were lit up (as pictured above), which looked very nice.  But we didn't stick around and quickly left on the subway.