Beijing diary#2 - Tian'anmen Square & Forbidden City!

This place is huge! Tian'anmen square is the center of Beijing -and China. It is the biggest public square in the world -it is told- and for sure it is a big place. On that square you'll find the monument of the peoples heroes and the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, and the square is flanked of the great hall of the people to the west and the museum of the Chinese revolution and museum of Chinese history to the east. It was pleasant to walk around on that big square and there was lot's of people approaching us for a little chat, a photo and to try to do some business.
"Hi, where do you come from?"
"From Scotland and Denmark!"
"Oh, you must have a romantic story."
That was nearly always the exact sentences when somebody wanted to offer them selves as guides or organize a tour for us to the Great Wall or just around Beijing. They were not annoying though, and I'm sure they would do a good job and I won't say that you shouldn't do this, if you want, because they are mainly just nice people who knows their city and want to earn some money by guiding visitors around.
Just north on the other side of the big Boulevard -Dongchang'an lie- The entrance to the forbidden city is located and entering the Gate of heavenly peace -with its big portrait of Chairman Mao- you will find your self -among thousands others- on the brink of the forbidden city.
After entering these gates, the feeling of the big crowd just outside and at the ticket stalls just disappeared. There was enough room for everybody and it was even possible to find some corners without that many people, to sit down and relax and to try to get some kind of orientation. The sun was bathing down on everybody from a clear sky, and most of the visitors was using an umbrella against the sun, so it wasn't that much time we were able to stand out side to comprehend the huge squares inside the city it self as it was just to hot. Just to try to give kind of an impression to the size of this "city" then I can say that the second yard or square you come to after entering and going straight towards north and through the Gate of supreme Harmony -which you can see on the photo just behind this fellow-, this second yard is said to be able to hold 100.000 people, and it is just a minor part of the whole complex.