Mao, Society, Tian'anmen → ♫Wo ai Beijing Tiananmen, Tiananmen, Tiananmen…♫
The first time I saw Tian’anmen Square was in a taxi that was taking me to a hospital (where a sick traveller needed me as a translator). Then, as we were riding, all of a sudden, it appeared right next to me to the right side of the taxi.
I felt so excited! I had that strange feeling that always comes to me when I visit a famous place for the first time. It’s as if I was entering the TV, the photo, the magazine, the book or any other image from which I’d always known this place. I was finally there, I could see it in 3D, see all the parts that are usually omitted in photographs, and I could answer such trivial questions as “what stands in front of Tian’anmen Gate?” Now I just had to turn my head and I could see. (I didn’t take a picture of it, so if you want to see it, you need to come there!) I had that same feeling before, when I first came to Manhattan, when I saw the Eiffel Tower, the Red Square and the Ermitage as well as other less famous places, but equally important to me, which I had known only through photographs before seeing them in person.
Before I left Beijing, I visited the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong. I had already visited the Mausoleum of Lenin two years prior, so I could notice a few differences between both.
First of all: queues. Visitors to Lenin’s Mausoleum form a relatively long queue which moves slowly.
However in China, the queue is incredibly long, but moves fast. It takes around half an hour to get from the starting point of the queue to the end, at the entrance to the Mausoleum. I estimated that any time there are about 5000 people queuing. They come from all over China: grand parents and their grand children, parents and their children, tour groups, foreign tourists,…
The Mausoleum of Mao is much bigger and more imposing than Lenin’s. It was built in 1976-1977, after the death of the Chairman. The intention was probably to build a more imposing Mausoleum which would surpass Lenin’s in all aspect. It was built during the Sino-Soviet Split after all.
“毛主席纪念堂” (Máozhuxi Jìniántáng) = Temple to the Memory of Chairman Mao (litteral translation).
Inside, there are two rooms (in Lenin’s Mausoleum there is only one open to the public). In the first room there is an immense statue of Mao, sitting and smilling, showing a sympathetic, paternal and reassuring face. Thereafter we enter the second room where Mao’s body is lying. He lies in an open coffin. Over him, there is a red flag with yellow hammer and sickle printed on it. You can see this symbol at the base of the coffin too. A glass dome is placed on top of the coffin, so we see Mao through this glass. All we see of Mao is his head. His eyes are closed, as if he were asleep; his sparse, grey hair are combed in the same way as in the 70s. Behind him stand four armed guards. Mao’s coffin is located inside a room with glass walls. Visitors walk outside the room and see Mao through the glass wall, at approximatively 3 metres from the corpse.
As in Lenin Mausoleum, one cannot bring a camera inside, nor can one take a photo with his cellphone. You need to deposit your bag in a building located a little far away from the Mausoleum. Also, you need an ID proof to enter (ID card for the Chinese, passport for the foreigners). This rule is often heard from the speakers around the Mausoleum, but only in Chinese. The first time you see the rule written in English is at the entrance to the Mausoleum, that is after queuing for at least half an hour. If you can produce an ID card at the entrance, you will be denied entry. One also has to wear if not formal clothes, at least “respectful” clothing. Men cannot wear sandals and women cannot be too sexy.
That was my last tourist activity in China before departure.
On the cone: “和谐社会” (héxiéshèhuì) Harmonious Society.
