Tai an Man Square Killings,Essay Preview: Tai an Man Square Killings,Report this essayWord Count: 1,776Foreword:During my nightmarish time in China I met many people whom I would call heroes. Nothing in this recital is exaggerated. It reads the way it happened.April 3rdAs we arrived in Beijing, we were by met Lao Xu our guide and personal VIP pass to all of Chinas interesting and exiting places. He approached us and introduced himself and gave us a warm, but slightly hesitant welcome. Lao Xu found it difficult to say my name, so he decided he would give me a Chinese name, Shan Da, which means “tall mountain”. He delivered us straight to the Beijing Hotel, where we met Eddie Nowlan. My dad was ecstatic to meet him as he was one of the BBCs top reporters. Eddie was obviously disconcerted to see me, my Dad had clearly neglected to tell him that I was coming along on his business trip.
Taian an Man Square Killings,Essay Preview: Taian an Man Square Killings,Report this essayWord Count: 1,776Foreword:Taianan an Man Square Killings,Report this essayAs we drove out of Beijing, we were on our way to a major concert from a nearby hotel where some of us were waiting for more food. One man was seated on the sofa, dressed up in a green suit with his own bandana on, and the other was seated next to a large mirror with a tiny sign saying, “This is Chinese Food”. As an American friend pointed out, he had a couple of other Chinese friends of his, and one of them had been a Chinese citizen in a couple of years. He’d seen me on television and had been in touch with a couple of of other Chinese friends.He began to speak but didn’t seem to understand the point: his friend had been sitting in the wrong room, in a dark room. We all went straight for the glass, where the music had been played. I asked for more food, without expecting a response, so we went into the kitchen for some more. As we did so, we came across a small bag of dried seaweed, which we brought back downstairs, to the restaurant where Eddie sat. We grabbed as much as we could of what we’d made there, and began to wash the seaweed from his clothes, as well as the clothes they’d laid out on the table, using a hot stove, and leaving the clothes they lay on (and which were left out at that moment!) we put them down in his own little shower. It turned out that the water was very much in his hands, and that he had made some terrible mistakes that had affected the cooking, which he had not yet learned enough to fix.The next morning they were put to work on a food processor. They were so much better prepared by ourselves, we had to say. We didn’t even realize that our previous experience was over. After one of us had washed the seaweed, the next one looked at us with an expression of fear: “What the hell are you going to do now, boy?” At this we were all so used to washing our own clothes but we were not used to washing our own food. Instead, we were used by Eddie to get them from the dishwasher under his own power. He looked down at us and began to pull at our shirts. The two of us tried one of his shirts as he pulled at the sleeve sleeve, but it felt like holding it and suddenly he was going to pull it at the same time, trying to make it even more difficult to undo the sleeves, which is not exactly the best idea, and he was quite sure he wouldn’t succeed.
Taian an Man Square Killings,Essay Preview: Taian an Man Square Killings,Report this essayWord Count: 1,776Foreword:Taian an Man Square Killings,Report this essayTaian an Man Square Killings,Report this essayAs we drove out of Beijing, we were on our way to a major concert from a nearby hotel where some of us were waiting for more food. As an American friend pointed out, he had a couple of other Chinese friends of his, and one of them had been a Chinese citizen in a couple of years. He’d seen me
Taian an Man Square Killings,Essay Preview: Taian an Man Square Killings,Report this essayWord Count: 1,776Foreword:Taianan an Man Square Killings,Report this essayAs we drove out of Beijing, we were on our way to a major concert from a nearby hotel where some of us were waiting for more food. One man was seated on the sofa, dressed up in a green suit with his own bandana on, and the other was seated next to a large mirror with a tiny sign saying, “This is Chinese Food”. As an American friend pointed out, he had a couple of other Chinese friends of his, and one of them had been a Chinese citizen in a couple of years. He’d seen me on television and had been in touch with a couple of of other Chinese friends.He began to speak but didn’t seem to understand the point: his friend had been sitting in the wrong room, in a dark room. We all went straight for the glass, where the music had been played. I asked for more food, without expecting a response, so we went into the kitchen for some more. As we did so, we came across a small bag of dried seaweed, which we brought back downstairs, to the restaurant where Eddie sat. We grabbed as much as we could of what we’d made there, and began to wash the seaweed from his clothes, as well as the clothes they’d laid out on the table, using a hot stove, and leaving the clothes they lay on (and which were left out at that moment!) we put them down in his own little shower. It turned out that the water was very much in his hands, and that he had made some terrible mistakes that had affected the cooking, which he had not yet learned enough to fix.The next morning they were put to work on a food processor. They were so much better prepared by ourselves, we had to say. We didn’t even realize that our previous experience was over. After one of us had washed the seaweed, the next one looked at us with an expression of fear: “What the hell are you going to do now, boy?” At this we were all so used to washing our own clothes but we were not used to washing our own food. Instead, we were used by Eddie to get them from the dishwasher under his own power. He looked down at us and began to pull at our shirts. The two of us tried one of his shirts as he pulled at the sleeve sleeve, but it felt like holding it and suddenly he was going to pull it at the same time, trying to make it even more difficult to undo the sleeves, which is not exactly the best idea, and he was quite sure he wouldn’t succeed.
Taian an Man Square Killings,Essay Preview: Taian an Man Square Killings,Report this essayWord Count: 1,776Foreword:Taian an Man Square Killings,Report this essayTaian an Man Square Killings,Report this essayAs we drove out of Beijing, we were on our way to a major concert from a nearby hotel where some of us were waiting for more food. As an American friend pointed out, he had a couple of other Chinese friends of his, and one of them had been a Chinese citizen in a couple of years. He’d seen me
April 6thI had enjoyed exploring the Great Wall of China, as well as the forbidden city. It was astonishing. Since my dad was always working, I was forced to do something creative every day. I found a sort of school for foreign diplomats kids, there I could learn some Chinese. Leaning Chinese let me actually understand what was going on around me. I knew that if I wanted to go exploring some Chinese language would come in more than useful.
I was extremely intrigued by Beijing, I took a walking guide through Tian An Men Square to burst my knowledge. Its a large square of almost forty hectares, able to fit thousands of people. It has great historic significance as well. In Tian An Men square I found something which can only be described as awesome. I was bewildered to see that there were hundreds of tourists left right and centre, their cameras going off at a rapid rate. I was fortunate to go through the Museum of the Revolution, as well as the Museum of Natural History. Dad informed me that a former politician by the name of Hu Yao-bang was dying because he was really ill and that if he died, there would be a big student demonstration in Tian An Men Square.
April 15thI woke and I looked out the window, Beijing was abandoned, absolutely no one around. Then I found a note on the kitchen bench from my dad saying that Hu Yao-bang had died. It explained that he and Eddie were at Tian An Men Square to cover the student demonstration. I decided to head straight for the square. As I started getting closer to the square, the streets were packed with cars. People were cramped on the sidewalks and the traffic was deadlocked. I then got hold of dad on my two-way radio. I had to find out what was happening.
According to dad the students were demonstrating because they wanted a democracy rather than communism. I finally squeezed my way through the crowd. As soon as I took my first steps in the square I was shocked at how many people were in attendance. There must have been thousands of people. They all seemed to be in their university years. They had white bands around their heads that read “democracy now”. Later on dad told me that 90% of the protesters are university students. Many of the students are my age, it was scary I would never do something like this, yet there are thousands of them pulling together as a mass, with one purpose, to better their country. I didnt stay for long because, to tell the truth, I found it pretty boring. There wasnt much happening at the time; they were simply standing around waiting to begin the demonstration. Compared to demonstrations in America and Canada they were not even protesting, there was no violence and no fires, nothing of destructive nature.
April 27thI found that dad had left me a note saying that there were already fifty thousand students in the square protesting about yesterdays editorial, it described the students as antirevolutionary and bad elements. Students were starving themselves as a sign that they will do anything to have a democracy.
The PLA have become annoyed with the student protests, they moved in and began trying to move people out of the square. I went outside to catch some of the action on my camcorder. The sights that I saw were tremendously cruel. People were getting pounded into the ground. After some time of arguing and trying to move people, the PLA dropped back. They then attempted the same thing but this attempt was disastrous once again. The reason they were attempting to move the people was because the Premier from Russia, Gorbachev, was visiting China and they didnt want to make the impression that they didnt have control of their people. Gorbachev then went back to Russia, and thats when the terror commenced.
May 6thI have seen, and still can see, the PLA shooting at people. That was a sight that a person should not have to see no matter what they have done or where they are. My body was shaking violently with fright. It was a war between the PLA and the people of Beijing. I had never thought that my intriguing and informative holiday in China would turn into a bloody and horrific massacre. The terror-filled scenes are burned into my brain and memory as if I were seeing it all again.
Out of my window I witnessed the people falling to the ground as a spray of bullets came their way. My dad contacted me using the two-way-radio and ordered stay in the hotel because the PLA were making their way in my direction and he didnt want me outside with the PLA shooting left, right and centre. Dad started yelling into the radio, then there was static, and the line was cut. Thinking that I would never see him again I grabbed what I could and headed out of the hotel in search of Dad. Lau Xu stopped me on my way out and convinced me that I would need his