Forbidden City

It was home to emperors (and to Pekingese too, by the way, the preferred pet of royalty). I can't say I'd have wanted to live there. There's no heat, no air-conditioning, and the stone floors are hard on one's feet. We all live better than emperors once did.

The home of the last emperor has a photo of the first non-emperor hanging on the front door.

No political commentary from me, not on this blog anyway.

Tiananmen again (hey, that rhymes!)

I was back at Tiananmen Square yesterday. Pictured above is Qian Men (literally "front gate" or "front door") at the far south end of Tiananmen Square.

This colorful (but sullen) little girl posed on the square. She paused from eating her fruit to do some diva pose that her mom (also present) probably taught her.

Hi. My name is Larry. This is my brother Daryl, and this is my other brother Daryl (who may or may not have forgotten to wear pants today).

The military is out in Beijing all the time. But Benjamin Netanyahu is in town today. So today, more.

I hope no one came to Beijing just to take a picture of the entrance to Forbidden City. The scaffolding is not very picturesque. That's a portrait of former Chairman Mao Zedong under the scaffolding.

A Tiananmen statue representing "the people" who helped build China. More photos coming soon!

Don't see THIS everyday

Due to unimaginable crowds, I don't go out much on the weekends. But I did today. Wow, does stuff like this always happen on Saturdays?

Peaceful protests were going on in the streets and public areas around town. HUNDREDS of uniformed police hung around the periphery to make sure it stayed that way. I estimate that every policeman in town was called in for duty today. 

Middle-class young men (students maybe?) sporting protest t-shirts smirked as cameras flashed, held up signs, sang as they marched down streets, and received the well wishes of the mobs of Saturday shoppers. My adrenaline started pumping amidst all the excitement. Demonstrations are generally frowned upon in this country. Yet even the policemen looked lighthearted on this occasion. What was going on?

The sign I saw most clearly said "Japanese people, go away." And it specifically meant "go away from the Diaoyu Islands," the ownership of which is under hot dispute these days.

A sign at a Japanese noodle shop assured shoppers that their food comes from Hong Kong, not really from Japan. (Huh?!)

An appliance store sported a sign that announced that no Japanese products would be sold today. Man alive, you do not want to annoy the Chinese too much; they are very patriotic people.

Online, one witness estimated that there were 10,000 people in the downtown shopping area. I laughed when I heard that, because on almost any Saturday there are probably 9,500 people in the downtown area just hanging out and shopping. (That's the reason I don't go out much on weekends, remember?)

Contention between China and Japan has existed since the 1930s when Japan invaded and occupied parts of China. In 1937, in a six-week massacre in Nanjing, Japanese soldiers murdered 300,000 Chinese citizens, raped countless women, and burned the city. (Go here to read more about the atrocities.) 

I've heard that most Japanese don't know the Nanjing Massacre happened, as they are not taught about it in their history books. (Similarly, I've heard they don't know about the attack at Pearl Harbor, and tend to find out about it when they go on vacation to Hawaii.)

I was sorry to hear that protests got ugly today in a few cities where windows were broken and a Japanese-made car was flipped. I'm glad I am in a better place where things are peaceful. And I am truly glad to not be anywhere near the Middle East kind of riots! These are nothing like those. And I wish the people of both China and Japan peace and safety as this tussle ensues.