The Forbidden City

The Forbidden City was the imperial palace from 1420 to 1912.  The Forbidden City is so named because it was forbidden for commoners to go there. Only imperial dignitaries were allowed in the outer courts, wives, concubines and eunuchs were allowed in the inner court, and there were parts of the Forbidden City that only the emperor was allowed.
When the communists took over the emperor was allowed to live there for a few years, but was ultimately kicked out. They then turned the Forbidden City into the Palace Museum that houses tons of relics from the imperial times.
While we were there Beijing experienced the worse flooding it has had in twenty years. The Forbidden City was full of water, but it was cool to see the dragons spitting out the excess water.

This slab weighs 20 tons and took

soldiers 3 months to move to the 

Forbidden City which was 12 km away.

The number of mystical animals denote the importance

of the building. This building has nine animals so it 

is really important.  The first animal is always a man on a 

phoenix. According to legend it denotes an emperor

who ruled harshly and was beheaded. It is a reminder

to always rule with grace and dignity.

In Chinese folklore dragons were friendly and 

spit water instead of fire.

Tiananmen, Beijing, China

Tiananmen Square in Beijing is a Chinese national symbol. The name Tiananmen means "Gate of Heavenly Peace" and is the front entrance to the Forbidden City.
Tiananmen Square is about 109 acres and consists of: the Monument to the People's Heroes, The Great Hall of the People, Mao's Mausoleum (yes, you can see his body enshrined in glass) and the National Museum of China.
The Square was built during the Ming Dynasty in 1415. It is also where Mao declared the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949.
It is also the site of the 1989 student uprising and massacre, where students marched and rallied for freedom. This movement was ultimately quelled with force, and today there is no mention of the uprising. If I ask local friends and coworkers about Tiananmen they just know it as the square the the buildings. If we prod and asked if anything significant happened there, they have no idea. Not wanting to get them or myself into trouble, I've never enlightened them on the matter.