Tian'anmen Square lies at the heart of Chang'an Avenue. The Chang'an Avenue of the past spanned 7.4 li[4] from the Dongdan to Xidan, and was formally named "the great street of ten li." Years later, the Chang'an Avenue spanning from Fuxingmen to Jianguomen was of length 13.4 li. Today, Chang'an Avenue spans from Shijingshan in the west to Tongzhou in the east, and is of length 84 li—dubbed "the great road of a hundred li."
Whether the Chang'an Avenue of "ten li" or "a hundred li," both are of extraordinary significance in the development of modern China. With Tian'anmen Square at its heart, the once Zhongshan Road, now Chang'an Avenue, is truly the great stage of the Chinese nation.
In 1919, the cries for democracy and science were heard in the May Fourth Movement; in 1925, the people of Shanghai opposed imperialism in the May Thirtieth Movement; in 1935, a nation came together in the face of extinction at the hands of Japanese invasion in the December Ninth Movement; in 1947, the "corrupt and tarnished" Kuomintang heard protests against hunger, civil war and persecution; and in 1949, the hopes of millions were realized in the founding of a new nation…
Today, there are over two million pots of flowers placed along Chang'an Avenue, capturing the fusion of the very essence of China and the excitement of the Olympics in the "first avenue of the nation." In Tian'anmen Square, a bed of flowers forms a feature display dubbed "Chinese Seal—Dancing Beijing" ; on both sides of the Xinhua Gate are red paper lanterns, hanging from vibrant green trees; at Fuxingmen is a display of blue and white porcelain; at Wangfujing the year "2008" has been shaped from flowers into the form of a dragon…
Chang'an Avenue, Beijing, China all seem to use flowers in ushering in new chapters in China's history. But in our pride and celebration, we should not forget that what shaped China was not flowers, but letting go of the past, and having the courage and vision to move forward.
After recording my series of interviews on Chang'an Avenue, I made way for my next destination: Zhongshan Park. Zhongshan Park, formerly the Altar of Land and Grain, is situated to the northwest of Tian'anmen Square, opposite the Imperial Ancestral Temple (present the Cultural Palace of Working People). This was where the emperors of the Qing and Ming dynasties made sacrifice to the gods of land and grain. As a tribute to Sun Yat-sen, it was renamed Zhongshan Park in 1928.
It has been more than ten years since I last visited Zhongshan Park. Long gone is my memory of the scenery of that visit, but to this day remains a most deep impression of the millennium tree at this altar. The grains across the trunk of the tree are almost like the marks of a knife, but at the same time they are like a web of veins, slashed across the trunk of the tree into an uninviting texture, almost as if to conceal some sort of secret not for human eyes deep within the tree. Those scars are the growth rings; they are the hardships and struggles, what history has left behind for us today and in the future.
But this time was unlike any other. This time, I came for one target, one person—Sun Yat-sen. Thus, I made straight for the Zhongshan Hall.