Looking at this enormous tribute to Chairman Mao, you'd have your back to Tiananmen Square. It doesn't look like much from here, but cross the street, and you'd see that it's ten - maybe fifteen? twenty? - feet tall. Just beyond those gates is the Forbidden City, but let's turn around.
Whatever amount of space there was in the Forbidden City is nothing compared to this. No wonder there were demonstrations here. I mean, here as opposed to somewhere else. The square is so big it's almost not even a square.
So, let's wander a bit.
I'm the kind of person who is the opposite of a claustrophobic. Wide hallways and desks that open into aisles feel always just a little too open. As if emptiness will suck you out or knock you over. Or, just not hold you up. And maybe that's why I was attracted to whatever monuments, planters and curbs the square had to offer. Which, as you can see below, are not many.
Still, we found our way to a bit of curb around some plants near the far end of the square. Vijay had his ukulele with him, so we sat for a bit. The ukulele came out, I started to sing. You could have looked down for two seconds to read the next line of lyrics. Then, look up and there are maybe thirty people huddled around staring happily at the spectacle of us. When we finished the one song we knew, they looked at us smiling expectantly. One couple sat down beside me to have their photo taken with us. Another first of what would be many.
With that, the crowd dissolved and we headed home.
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