World’s Largest Square
Tienanmen Square – Beijing, China
Local Time: December 24, 2008 – 11:00AM
Right in front of the Forbidden City is Tiananmen Square where the infamous portrait of Chairman Mau is located. Some may remember that Tiananmen Square is also the largest outdoor gathering area (is that what they call it?) or “square” in the world. This was where so many Chinese students gathered to rally and protest only to be rushed and ran over by tanks to keep them under control. So many lives were lost in that rally.
The capital building is located right next to the square and on this particular day (as with most days as we were told) there were hordes and hordes of people gathered about from other tour groups along with locals and officials who guard the capital building and general area. It is comparable to visiting the White House in the United States – which I have yet to visit in my lifetime.
I was told by our tour guides that an average of 80,000 people visit the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square on a daily basis. 80,000 people!!! That’s crazy!
