Saturday Snapshot

Saturday Snapshots is hosted by West Metro Mommy. 

May 2009 - Beijing China

I had only begun blogging in 2009 so I didn't post details about our trip to China. I've been looking at the photos this week and thought I would post some of our itinerary.

I posted some photos earlier this week (out of sequence) that have inspired me to look back at our trip to China.
Boarding our river cruise.
Laundry Day
Signs
Arriving in Beijing

Dining on the River Li

Today I am writing about our first full day of sightseeing. We started with  Tian’an’men Square.

Photo taken on our way.

Our guide Sean, picked us up and we drove to the Square. 

 Approaching the Square with the Forbidden City in the background. That is smog you see as it was hot, in the high 20s C or low 80s F.

Located in the center of downtown Beijing, to the south of the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square is the biggest square in the world, as it is 880 meters long and 500 meters wide. It was named ‘Tiananmen Square’ because it is situated in front of the south gate of the Forbidden City- Tiananmen. To the north of the square is China’s national flag. The flag is hoisted and lowered every day at sunrise and sunset.

We were amazed to find ourselves standing in such a place! It was crowded but not uncomfortably so.

These buses on the grounds were for soldiers.

The Monument to the People's Heroes is a ten-story obelisk that was erected as a national monument of the People's Republic of China to the martyrs of revolutionary struggle during the 19th and 20th centuries.

Mao Tse-tung is interred in this mausoleum in the background.