The Chairman Himself

Who would have thought that we would be able to see the Father of the PRC? Yes that's right...Chairman Mao's body has apparently been preserved since his death and is now on display in the Mausoleum built in Tiananmen Square.

We took a trip there and unfortunately, you can't bring anything in, no camera, no bags, no water bottles, so needless to say I'll try to describe it for everyone.

The mausoleum is huge. I'm thinking it's about 200 x 200 m and about 8 stories high. We lined up in one long line 4 wide. As you go into the building the line is split into 2's and we go around a large statue of Mao sitting. Lot's of people were laying flowers at the statues feet. Once around the statue and behind the wall, the lines meet up and go beside both sides of a glass room where in the center laid the Chairman with 2 guards behind his bed by the wall. So strange to see. After all these years that his body is still out for display. It's up for debate whether this is a tribute to the man or not.

I did get and extra special treat by being dragged by a security guard cause I guess he wanted to keep the 2 wide line going. We were just coming around the corner after the statue and this guy is shouting something at me and motioning with his hands to move up...I motioned back that I was with Jenni and all I hear is "aiy" and then he grabs my arm and yanks me up about 5 feet. I was pretty much laughing the whole time and Jenni was coming up right behind me laughing too. Lot's of fun. I guess the good thing that came out of that was we were in the inside lane, right beside the glass to see Mao without people in front of us!

Cool...