Tiananmen Gate unquestionably makes a strong impression, but this concrete plain dotted with worthy statuary and bounded by monumental buildings can seem inhuman. Together with the bloody associations it has for many visitors it often leaves people cold, especially Westerners unused to such magisterial representations of political power. For many Chinese tourists though, the Gate is a place of pilgrimage. Crowds flock to see the corpse of Chairman Mao, others quietly bow their heads before the Monument to the Heroes, a thirty-metre-high obelisk commemorating the victims of the revolutionary struggle. Among the visitors you will often see monks, and the sight of robed Buddhists standing in front of the uniformed sentries outside the Great Hall of the People makes a striking juxtaposition. Others come just to hang out or to fly kites, but the atmosphere is not relaxed and a CNY5 fine for spitting and littering is rigorously enforced here. At dawn, the flag at the northern end of the Gate is raised in a military ceremony and lowered again at dusk, which is when most people come to see it. After dark, the Gate is at its most appealing and, with its sternness softened by mellow lighting, it becomes the haunt of strolling families and lovers.