A bird of many colours.

Okay, before I go any further... couple things: 1) Yea, that image above is owned by someone at the Associated Press and I am assuming no copyright privileges to it, blah, blah, blah. ... 2) Sorry I haven't been posting, life has been so busy.

What do you call the event associated with that picture? The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989? The Tiananmen Square Massacre? That Event in China?

How about The June 4th Incident.

Yea.

Welcome to China.

I found myself in my first political discussion where I didn't realize I was in a heap of trouble a few days ago. I was speaking to a Mainlander about Tiananmen Square and I brought up 1989. Yea, that was a mistake.

I think in the United States there are certain controversial issues that will almost get everyone flared up in some way or another. Abortion, Gay Marriage, Brady Commons, etc.

I think Tiananmen Square beats them all. Depending on whom you talk to here, you have to refer to it by a certain name in order not to offend anyone. Honestly, the majority of the mainlanders say they didn't know much about Tiananmen Square and what happened there - even the ones from Beijing.

They also bring up that I guess students burned a whole lot of Chinese police officers during the protests, something I haven't heard about before.

We spoke at length about this event in my Covering China class, which is turning out to be the greatest thing I could ever take. It's interesting to see several different cultures come together on this subject. It's a hot one, most indeed.

The Mainland believes Western Media overplayed the event. Western Media is upset because the Mainland cut their broadcasts. And, according to the Chinese Gov't, nothing ever happened in the Square - which is technically correct. The photo above (thanks AP!), is technically banned in China. You'll never see it in a Google Search.

However, the Chinese Gov't, from my understanding, uses this photo differently. If you have ever seen the video of this event, the tanks go way out of their way not to run over the guy. That's usually the aspect the Chinese Gov't uses.

All the chaos happened in the surrounding streets. But Tiananmen Square's Surrounding Streets Massacre isn't sexy. I guess even historic events need a good marketing scheme.

If you had to think of Hong Kong in 1989, think of an child about to be reunited with its parent, and then Mommy pulls this. Scary.

This is a touchy subject. Probably the touchiest subject I have seen in my life. Because, in the U.S., even if you don't believe in gay marriage, you can still debate it. Here, you just don't bring it up.

Just ignore it, like we do the Squid.

See? I ended a melodramatic post with a Family Guy quote. I can transition into anything.

Anyways, Please Mind the Gap
.
.
.
and the Tank.

~Ken