Trip to Tianamen and Mao

Went to Tiananmen Square on Friday morning. It must have been 90 degrees with humidity the same, made NYC seems like a winter wonderland. It was a national holiday for the Chinese to celebrate the opening of the games, I didn't know that, so it was more than crowded. The square was closed but I could stand by Mao's place across the street so all was fine, even had a father ask me to pose with his child (Chinese like to do that with foreigners). Ten minutes in, the soldiers march out yelling in Chinese so everyone turns around and starts going the other way, they were closing the neighborhood! I had to walk in a tight crowd for what must have been a mile because they also closed the subway stations... no water, no idea why. It didn't feel much like an adventure at the time but adventures are like that...not always such fun when happening. Here's the Square, Mao and a bit of chaos...