Tiananmen Square

Not much needs to be said about this, honestly. Only that we wanted to see the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, and got up early to do so, but it was inexplicably closed. Still, this being a holiday weekend, the square was quite crowded, no doubt with out-of-towners come in to see the capital. There was a light drizzle falling. The temperature was mild, but I sweated anyway. The square was smaller than I thought it'd be.

Take a look for yourselves:

The southeastern corner of the square. This big ol' gate fronts the south side, on Qianmen Street.

The rear side of Mao's mausoleum. At least, I think it's the rear side. Might be the front. Depends.

Walking around the mausoleum, up the square's east side.

And here's the square proper!

The reverse side of Mao's mausoleum. Inexplicably closed. All the apparatus was in place for stupendous lines of people waiting to get in...but no people.

The Monument to the People's Heroes.

First glimpse of the Forbidden City.

This was the bit that really ticked me off: besides the lousy weather, this part of the square, normally the biggest and widest where you can really get a feel for the size of the thing, was all mucked up with this stupid bamboo-and-red-lantern thingy. Bloody autumn harvest festival...

And there were Jumbotrons all over the place, too. Two of 'em. Reduced the apparent size of the square by a factor of five.

Next destination: ZHONGSHAN GARDEN. Don't miss it.