Beijing before the Tiananmen massacre

The more difficult circumstances of traveling in 1988 can hardly be imagined today - no cell phones, no ATMs, no internet, no Booking.com: so we were mainly equipped with travel checks, US dollars, FECs and Renminbi.

We tried to book a hotel for the first night after arriving in Beijing by fax, which probably got lost on the way to China, because when checking in at the reception of the planned hotel, no booking could be found. It worked anyway and we were given a room on a higher floor with a view of the haunted Beijing.

We spent the days in Beijing visiting the Temple of Heaven and the Forbidden City, which can be reached via Tiananmen Square, which leads directly to the Gate of Heavenly Peace.

Above the gate you can see the picture of Mao Zedong from afar. In the south of the square there is also a large mausoleum in which the preserved body of Mao is exhibited.

While we were marveling at these sights, we didn't suspect that only a year later, on June 3rd and 4th, 1989, the Tian'anmen massacre would take place here, the violent suppression of the student-led democracy movement by the Chinese military.