Tiananmen

Twenty years ago tonight, this square was full of tanks, and the next morning, dead students. Here in Hong Kong there are protests and demonstrations commemorating the anniversary of the Massacre, but in Beijing, just a week ago, standing on the square and looking across the street at the gates of the Forbidden City, there was just nothing. It is sobering, and breaks one out of the illusion that you are in a city like any other. One look towards the guards in front of Mao's portrait reminds you that some things have not changed.