jeanne boden

waitress at the airport coffee shop

qipao - 旗袍

silk and dragons

mao zedong proclaiming the establishment of the people's republic of china

This is a detail of the painting hung up inside the Tiananmen Gate: Mao Zedong proclaiming the establishment of the People's Republic of China on October 1st, 1949 (it could do with some restauration but it is an important historical document). This year China will celebrate the 60th birthday of the PRC.

tiananmen - 天安门 - gate of heavenly peace

The Tiananmen Gate at the north of the Tiananmen Square is facing south, as prescribed by traditional Chinese architecture and city layout according to which not only the Forbidden City but all of Beijing is set up.

Since Empire times until today the Tiananmen Gate is a crucial location. During the Empire it was used for the proclamation of literati candidates who succeeded in obtaining the highest ranking in the civil exams and who came in direct service to the emperor who had the 天命 Mandate of Heaven. With lots of ceremony their names were proclaimed from this gate.

In the beginning of the twentieth century the 五四运动 May Four Movement took place at the bottom of this gate. The May Four Movement 1919 was symbol of the emancipation movement China was going through at the time. Chinese society changed drastically during that period. (Many people see the changes of today's China since the opening up in 1978 as a continuation of what started then).

On October 1, 1949 Mao Zedong proclaimed the establishment of the People's Republic of China from this place. Until today his picture remains on the gate. Mao Zedong gained his place in Chinese history mainly because he was the one who reunited China after the 'century of humiliation' the West brought to China starting with the Opium War in 1840 and ending in 1949.

On special days like October 1st, the picture of Sun Yat-sen, founder of the Chinese Republic in 1911, is also brought out onto the Tiananmen Square, facing Mao Zedong's picture. This place is really the very heart of China.

At regular times in history this place witnesses demonstrations and revolts. In recent history there was the demonstration after the death of Zhou Enlai in 1976 and the demonstration after the death of Hu Yaobang in 1989.

beijing boy

suggestion box in the streets of beijing － 意见箱

I took this picture in the streets of Beijing last year. I had not seen many of these in China before: a 'suggestion box'! Since it was hung up next to the slogan campaigning for the Olympics, issued by the local government at Donghuamen, I presumed it must have been them who put it up there. But having the English writing on it, I wondered whom it was addressed to really. No Chinese would need English writing. Maybe the English writing is purely meant to make the box look more fashionable, maybe there is another goal behind it. I still don't know the answer and I still wonder who would put what kind of suggestions in a box like this in the middle of the street. 

But it seems to be a good sign that the Chinese government asks it's citizens for advice and suggestions. The relationship between the Chinese government and the people seems to have changed during this legislature of Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao. The image the current government wants to create in the media is one of being close to all China's people. How open discussions can be in China today all depends on the subject under discussion.

'outlining the group': white caps

'outlining the group': blue caps

flags and flags