Seen on the Square

Seeing how I was in Beijing and I had a few hours to kill, I took the di tie to Tiananmen West and walked through the square to Tiananmen East and then headed off to dinner.
As soon as you come out of the station, you can see the new Beijing Opera House AKA National Grand Theatre taking shape.

Quite controversial and round!

It looks like it will roll over and eat the Natural History Museum!
Remember, Tiananmen Square is still the largest public square in the world. It serves as Beijing’s backyard. People fly kites, hang out, smoke, ride bikes here.

Tiananmen is still a good place to fly a kite

A very tall and official looking flagpole…

…guarded by a PLA honor guard.
During the long drawn out “lower the flag” ceremony, demonstrators jumped the line and tried to unfurl banners. They were immediately and roughly wisked away by these PLA troops. Twice. And no, I didn’t get any pix. Are you nuts??
Signage has always been an interest of mine. And Beijing has lots of interesting signs.

I understand most of these signs but…

What does this mean? No farting cars? No backfiring cars?