I was 10 years old, and we lived not far from Tiananmen Square. In the beginning, we didn't know what happened; probably we still don't know. It was the only time I saw tanks in the center of the city that were not on parade. The local people opposed them and very soon, there were charred soldiers' corpses hanging from the overpasses.

Then we began to hear shooting from outside our classroom. We didn't know where the sound came from, whether the shots were being fired in the air or at people. But we heard it every day. Then, suddenly, we were given a week's vacation. As children, we were all happy to have time off from school. Many adults were happy, too. They seemed to sense that a new China was coming, even though they weren't sure what it was....Continue Reading