Eric's Beijing Diary

The town square. Every city in China of any significance seems to have one. The city of Dalian in Liaoning Province has several of them. I stayed at the Dalian Binguan, which is parked on the perimeter of the Zhongshan Square in Dalian. In the evening, it is very common for towns people to gather and dance, play simple games, or just chat.

Beijing, of course, has Tiananmen. But Tiananmen is kinda different. Tiananmen Square is just a huge slab of concrete. But it is the site of so many momentous, not to mention gut wrenching events. The Monument to the People's Heros in the center of the square is where people brought literally mountains of flowers when Zhou Enlai died. They were brought as a memorial, of course, but also as a protest against Jiang Qing, Mao's fourth wife, who hated Zhou, and who was the "witch" of the Cultural Revolution." For so many reasons, Tiananmen is really more of a nation square than a town square. Still, it is nice place to fly a kite on a Sunday afternoon. But Beijing actually has many smaller community "squares," which serve pretty much the same function as a town square.

As town squares go, I think Beibuwan Square in Beihai is probably one of the prettiest I have seen in China. It has much more of a "park" feel to it. Tall palm trees, spreading shade trees, and grass they actually allow you to sit on. Most places in China, if they catch you sitting on the grass, they will chase you off. Sitting on the grass is like walking on the grass. Grass is for looking at. But here in Beihai, the town square is covered with a lawn that townspeople use for picnics, or just sitting and talking. Situated around the square are several department stores. In one corner is a 24-hour McDonald's. Seems like that place is always busy. The side streets in the neighborhood of the square have lots of small, streetside restaurants. It's very easy to get a delicious meal for a couple dollars. And of course, there are plenty of bicycle rickshaws to take you where you need to go.