Tiananmen Square Protest

Today marks the 26th anniversary of the brutal crushing of pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989. Or as it’s known in China – Thursday.

I was in China 10-years ago to adopt my daughter. In our tour of Tiananmen Square, not one word was uttered by our tour guide about the massacre. Nothing. It was the same reaction I got from every girl I ever asked out on a date.

But on our bus ride back to the airport, our 20-something tour guide got on the microphone. He was a really well composed guy, but suddenly he started having a nervous cough and was clearing his throat like he had just swallowed a handful of fermented tuna eyeballs. He said,”Now that you’ve filled out and handed in your tour satisfaction forms, let me tell you what really happened at Tiananmen Square.”

He then proceeded to tell us much of what every country in the world except China already knows about the massacre. But he also told us how his grandmother saw the Chinese army rise up out of the underground tunnels beneath Tiananmen Square and slaughter thousands of people. She saw trucks filled with bodies and body parts.

Our guide went on and on about the massacre. It was riveting. And very brave of him because the bus driver could have been a party member. Or maybe he was just grumpy. But he driver did drive up on a sidewalk to avoid backed up traffic. So there’s that.

The Great Firewall of China

The Great Firewall of China has blocked all mention of Tiananmen Square on Weibo (The Google of China). Here’s what they have blocked:

• Tiananmen Square
• Today
• June 4th
• Tank Man
• 63 + 1 (because it adds up to 64, or June 4th)
• 65-1 (for the same mathematical reason)
• Democracy
• Memorial event
• Crush
• Crush and destroy
• Assemble
• Revolt
• Open fire
• Today
• Tomorrow
• Yesterday
• That year
• That day
• Demonstrate
• Gunfire
• Hunger Strike Declaration
• Protest
• Suppress
• Tank
• June
• Jun+4
• Six+four
• Six 4
• 6 four
• Liusi (Pinyin for “six four”)
• Six four
• TAM (abbreviation for Tiananmen)
• Martial law
• Student movement
• Student strike
• Student federation
• Massacre
• Beijing massacre

And my favorite:

• Big Yellow Duck

The censors mean business.

The Gate of Heavenly Peace

All of this was in my mind when I wrote the song “The Gate of Heavenly Peace” for China The Whole Enchilada. I took the image of the troops coming up from the tunnels and wrote:

“The ground cracked open and the sky grew dark

Came a rumbling across the land

The devil rose up and he declared

I’m gonna crush your faith into the ground

I’m gonna crush your faith into the ground

I’m gonna crush your faith into the ground

At the Gate of Heavenly Peace”