Getting to Know TIANANMEN SQUARE

Even though Tiananmen Square is one of those places you might think would be cool to visit some day, when you start to learn about it, it becomes even more interesting. At least this was the case for me. I admit, going in, I didn’t know much about the place—a photograph, some news stories about a protest back in the late 80’s, it was all a little vague. It was more of an impression that the place was important. However, it was one of those place names on the itinerary that had jumped out at me when deciding to take this trip, and I was excited to go there. What I ended up learning, is that Tiananmen Square is a facinating place, and it's significance is both historical and political.

MAP OF TIENANMEN SQUARE

To start with, I didn’t know that Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City are actually right next to each other, so if you’re going to see one, plan on seeing them both. Besides, a trip to Beijing without seeing these two amazing places would be a complete miss in my opinion.

Tiananmen Square is one of the largest squares in the world at 109 acres and is located in the center of Beijing. The first thing I noticed were the 3 large modern buildings:

1. The Mausoleum of Mao Zedong is the final resting place of the Communist leader. Also known as Chairman Mao, he founded the People’s Republic of China and ruled between 1949 and 1976.

2. The Great Hall of the People is a large government building that is the hub of Beijing politics. It is used for both legislative and ceremonial purposes by the People’s Republic of China (CRP), the Communist Party of China (CPC), and the National People’s Congress (NPC).

3. The National Museum of China houses more than 1.4 million objects of history and art.

THE IMPERIAL CITY

The square also has 3 much older structures. Tiananmen Square actually began as a part of the Imperial City of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, so it’s not just a modern square, it has been around for centuries. The Imperial City also encompassed the Forbidden City on the square’s north side, along with some lakes and gardens. The three historical buildings were built in 1419 during the Ming Dynasty. Farthest to the south is the archery tower, Jianlou. Leading into the square is the southern gate Zhengyangmen. On the north end is the square’s namesake, Tiananmen Gate (Gate of Heavenly Peace) which leads directly into the Forbidden City.

NATIONAL HOLIDAY

We were there just before the National Holiday, and in honor of that, there were giant flower installations around the park. The National Holiday is celebrated on Oct. 1 and commemorates the formation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 (kind of like July 4th in the U.S). Although the holiday is on Oct. 1, most Chinese have the whole week off, and it is known as Golden Week. In fact, it was right there in Tiananmen Square that Mao Zedong (Chairman Mao) announced the beginning of the Republic.

TIANANMEN SQUARE MASSACRE

Of course, when I heard that we were going to Tiananmen Square, I immediately thought of a photograph of a man standing in front of a line of military tanks from back in the 80’s. I was young at the time and not paying attention to world events, yet that image stuck with me and I’ve never forgotten it.

Unfortunately, to much of the world, Tiananmen Square is probably best known for the student protests that took place there between April 15 - June 5, 1989. Those protests ended in the Tiananmen Square Massacre, otherwise known as the June 4th Incident in China. But what were they protesting?

After Chairman Mao’s death in 1976, there followed a political struggle in the country about what direction China should take. Hu Yoabang was a high ranking party official who had been a Mao loyalist, but felt economic and political reforms were important for a modern China. By 1981, he had risen to be the 2nd most powerful man in Chinese politics, first as Chairman of the Communist Party, then as Party General Secretary when he helped to abolish the position of Chairman.

(Interesting fact: The highest ranking official in China is called the Paramount Leader, which isn’t actually a title or office, just whomever is considered to be the most important political person at the time. In Hu’s time it was Deng Xiaoping. Today, it is Xi Jinping who holds many different titles, the most important one being that of General Secretary of the Communist Party. His title of President of the People’s Republic of China is a ceremonial position as head of state. It’s not democratically voted on by the people, and since taking office, Xi has abolished term limits for the “President.”)

Hu’s politics were not popular among the old Communist conservatives. He supported a vigorous anti-corruption campaign against high-ranking party officials and their children and he was in favor of reducing the defense budget which angered military leaders. He promoted intellectualism and believed in freedom of speech for those intellectuals and for the press, even about such controversial subjects as Democracy. By 1987 he had been forced out of his position as General Secretary but maintained a loyal following among many Chinese. When Hu Yoabang died in 1989, he was so popular that funeral attendees lined up 10 miles long to honor him.

Since I had never heard of Hu, I couldn’t understand what would cause such a strong reaction by the students. Now I understand that he was a symbol and a hope of what China could be. Remember, the Mao years were very difficult for most Chinese: as many as 52 million people died of starvation in the late 50’s and early 60’s when the government appropriated much of the grain and sold it overseas. Hu was offering something completely different.

After Hu died, a few hundred students marched on the square to lay a wreath for him at the base of the Monument to the People’s Heroes. They were also protesting in favor of Hu's ideologies: capitalist democratic reforms, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press. What started with a few hundred students grew until it spread across the entire country, making party leaders very nervous. Eventually, people other than students started to join the protests, creating crowds at their height that by some estimates topped a million people in Beijing alone.

The Chinese government declared martial law and tried a number of times to disperse the crowd, but to no avail. Eventually, in frustration, on June 4th, they sent in 300,000 military troops and tanks to suppress and disperse the crowd. Following orders, the soldiers open fired on the protesters.

HOW MANY PEOPLE DIED?

Originally, the Chinese Red Cross reported 2,600 dead, but under extreme pressure from the government, that number was downgraded. More recently, in 2017, a cable was released from the then British Ambassador to Beijing, claiming as many as 10,000 people were killed in the massacre. The exact number may never be known.

Officially, 241 died and 7000 were injured, including soldiers.

COVER-UP

Inside most of China, the Massacre at Tiananmen Square is not well known by the general population, or if it is, they won’t admit it. This is because the government aggressively suppressed any information about the massacre:

· Many of the protesters were rounded up and imprisoned.

· Government officials who were sympathetic to the students were ousted.

· Foreign press was expelled from the country.

· The Chinese press was censored.

· Any mention of the incident has been omitted from school textbooks.

Even today, the June 4th Incident is one of the most heavily censored stories inside China. Our tour guide, Cassie, admitted that even though she of course knew of Tiananmen Square, she had never heard of the massacre before she became a guide for the American-owned tour company. She is from Chengdu and 27 years old, so it wouldn’t surprise me to find that the incident is better known among Beijing locals, especially those that are a little older.

A very interesting video from 2005 titled “A Day Forgotten” by Chinese filmmaker Liu Wei shows honest reactions by people who are asked about what the date of June 4th means. If you’re interested, here is a link to that video: https://www.vox.com/2014/6/4/5779066/ask-regular-people-in-china-tiananmen

We were fortunate to meet one of the protesters that evening back at our hotel. He talked about the events leading up to June 4th, and the massacre itself. But you could see he was still very cautious and uncomfortable talking about it and I noticed he checked the room for mounted cameras before he started talking. He showed us his Little Red Book from Mao’s days—which citizens were required to carry at all times—and some of the pins they would wear to show their devotion to the Party. It was fascinating.

SHOULD YOU GO TO TIANANMEN SQUARE?

Yes! From its beginnings as a part of the Ming Imperial City, then as the place where Chairman Mao launched the People’s Republic of China, and finally, as the site of a large-scale massacre and cover-up, Tiananmen Square combines history with politics that would interest almost anyone. Besides, you really should see the Forbidden City too, so you’ll already be in the neighborhood.

UP NEXT:

We go under the street, through the Tiananmen Gate, and into the Forbidden City. It’s spectacular—and huge.

---

BEIJING POLLUTION

A quick note about the Beijing air quality. I had mentioned in a previous post about how bad it is, but when you see my pictures here you may have noticed the beautiful blue sky. What’s up with that?

We’ve actually gotten super lucky with the pollution here ever since that first really bad day. Cassie, our guide, gave us a rundown on what is normal air quality for Beijing. The way she explained it, an air quality index (AQI) of 80 in Beijing is considered good (good is technically 0-50, and even Los Angeles has averaged below 70 for the last 20 years) and 300-500 is so bad it’s considered hazardous to your health, especially for people predisposed to respiratory problems. Crazy bad is how they described the pollution in parts of China a couple of times in 2016 and 2017 when it actually almost reached 1000! What

was today’s index you ask? 17!!! We are running sooooo good!

China continues to make strides in improving its air quality and has remained committed to the multi-national Paris Agreement on Climate Change. In 2015, the average AQI for Beijing was 127, but by 2018 that had dropped to an average of 95.

If you’re planning on traveling to China and want to check the current air quality, go to http://www.aqicn.info/city/beijing/ where the AQI forecast ratings are color coded.

If you like reading this or any of my other posts, PLEASE SUBSCRIBE below and I'll send you an email whenever I publish a new post. I promise not to use your info for any other purpose, and I promise not to flood your inbox with lots of senseless junk either.