Chairman Mao

Chairman Mao, originally uploaded by sazztastical.

Overlooking the very huge and beautiful Tian'anmen Square 30 years after his death. His face is still on every bank note and everywhere you look there are photos of him - Chairman Mao is still, very much, China.
Behind this building (you walk through tunnels - I think you can just see them underneath each of the red signs on either side) is the Forbidden Palace - so this whole area is just massive. The square on it's own is the size of 63 football pitches - the biggest public square in the world. I would hate to guess at how big the Forbidden Palace is. It just went on and on and on. Building after building, all beautiful in it's own way.

This isn't the square by the way - I'll have to post a photo of that later or tomorrow - this is just the exit / entrance to it. The place is just vast and to get to the square you have to either risk your life crossing a 6 lane road or use one of the underpasses.

We decided to just hop on the underground and try to get away from the crowds - not an easy task in a city with about 800 billion people!