Tiannamen Square
Location: Beijing, China
Local Time: Friday, September 29, 2006 - 2:35pm
Well, we got up early this morning and walked to Tiannamen Square to see the flag rising ceremony. Once there we waited for half an hour, standing around outside the square (because the army has guards to keep people out), before a troop marched out of the Forbidden City, across the road (which is blocked off for a minute during the ceremony), into the square. There, one soldier raised the Chinese flag while the national anthem blared loudly on loudspeakers. After the flag was up, the soldiers marched back into the Forbidden City.
The guidebook says that the soldiers are specially trained to march 108 paces per minutes, exactly 75cm per stride, but I'm pretty sure there was one stepping 76cm a couple of times.
After that, we walked south to the Temple of Heaven. There we were in time to have people try to sell us lots of stuff, as well as see lots of badminton, tai chi, tai chi sword, tai chi sabre, and a little Chen style.
The Echo Wall was closed for restoration, so we were spared hoards of Chinese tourists standing on opposite sides of a large circular courtyard yelling at each other to see if they can hear each other.
Local Time: Friday, September 29, 2006 - 2:35pm
Well, we got up early this morning and walked to Tiannamen Square to see the flag rising ceremony. Once there we waited for half an hour, standing around outside the square (because the army has guards to keep people out), before a troop marched out of the Forbidden City, across the road (which is blocked off for a minute during the ceremony), into the square. There, one soldier raised the Chinese flag while the national anthem blared loudly on loudspeakers. After the flag was up, the soldiers marched back into the Forbidden City.
The guidebook says that the soldiers are specially trained to march 108 paces per minutes, exactly 75cm per stride, but I'm pretty sure there was one stepping 76cm a couple of times.
After that, we walked south to the Temple of Heaven. There we were in time to have people try to sell us lots of stuff, as well as see lots of badminton, tai chi, tai chi sword, tai chi sabre, and a little Chen style.
The Echo Wall was closed for restoration, so we were spared hoards of Chinese tourists standing on opposite sides of a large circular courtyard yelling at each other to see if they can hear each other.
posted by Jaye | 12:11 PM
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