Downtown Beijing is a beautiful city. It is the cleanest and best kept city I have seen in all my travels. Everything is absolutely pristine including the very fresh air.......absolutely no hint of air pollution today. The greenery is amazing with tree lined streets and flower gardens everywhere.
This walkway used to be an open sewer but look at it now. This was also the site of the Boxer Rebellion which was a violent anti foreign and anti Christian uprising that took place between 1899 and 1901. It was initiated by the Militia United in Righteousness (Yihetuan), known in English as "Boxers", and was motivated by nationalism and opposition to imperialist expansion associated with missionary activity. Foreigners and Chinese Christians sought refuge in the Legation quarter and were besieged by the Chinese Imperial army for 55 days before being rescued by a European Alliance.
Then we walked to Tianneman Square to see the location of that very famous photo of the young student standing firm in front of an advancing tank. It was very quiet this morning but has a large military presence.
It too is very well kept with lots of statues of their socialist heroes.
We will have a more comprehensive tour of Tiannemen Square and the Forbidden City when we join our tour on Thursday morning but it was nice to mingle with the population on our own today.
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