Tiananmen Square(940 views)

Release date:2009-08-24 13:40:09

Covering an area of 100 acres, the Tiananmen Square is, perhaps, the greatest open-air meeting place in the world.

It is at once a private, deeply personal experience and an assimilated, en-masse sense of inclusion. Despite not having set foot in this gargantuan public space for five years, my visit there remains indellibly etched in my mind, both because of the sheer scale of the place, and the myriad possibilities for human interaction it provides. Under the indirect, yet inescapably watchful gaze of the immaculately presented soldiers I wandered, absorbing the sheer immensity of the place, whilst delighting in the very personal encounters it afforded.

Stopping to rest briefly on a small bench, a smiling young man approached, carrying a small, transparent envelope. He sat and introduced himself, telling me that he was on his way for a job interview. Appreciating his sudden injection of friendliness in such imposing surroundings, I gently probed him as to the details of his forthcoming interview. He told me that it was for an international cosmetics company, and he was interviewing for the position of a local representative. I helped him through the pages of literature the company had given him for preparation, and realised only in retrospect that I was getting free (and very relaxed) experience in teaching adults! Like many people I encountered on my travels in China (children and adults alike), I was delighted by his willingness to communicate and his skill in doing so in English. As he bid me farewell and disappeared into the seething throngs of this great, al-fresco hall, I wished him luck, wondering how he would fare.

I barely had two minutes to lose myself in my own thoughts before an attractive young lady smilingly approached me, also sitting down to talk. It transpired that she was a student at Tsinghua University (one of the top two universities in China, along with Beijing University), and wanted to invite me for lunch. “This is great!” I thought. I've been here less than 20 minutes and I've helped a nice, friendly guy with his job interview and now I've been invited to lunch by an attractive and intelligent local student! These two encounters (despite not being the only personal encounters I had during my time in the Square), encapsulate perfectly for me how I feel when I think about Tiananmen Square. Yes, it is an awesome, vast expanse, and has memorable features breaking the otherwise flat expanse, such as the 38-foot high Monument t to the People's Heroes, completed in 1958, and the perhaps better-known (at least internationally), Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, completed in 1977, and featuring perhaps the longest queue I had seen to date (and possible since). Soberly-dressed adults, and immaculately uniformed school children on trips from all parts of China waiting in line to view Chairman Mao's embalmed body. I knew that I wouldn't have time to get to the front of this particular queue on this day, but I knew that, like the previous two delightful people I had encountered, other sublime moments were queuing up to meet me in this most tumultuously ordered open air meeting place.

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