I always find it interesting to visit Tiananmen during National Day celebrations. It can get crazy crowded with local and international tourists but the displays are usually interesting, if kitschy representations celebrating China's recent or future accomplishments. Of course, there is the requisite Olympics display (bottom image), complete with a small scale version of the "bird's nest" stadium (designed by Herzog and deMeuron and Ai Weiwei) in bamboo; then you have a miniature version of the Himalayas and the Potala Palace with a flower covered train celebrating the 2006 opening of the first train route from Beijng to Tibet; and lastly (and apparently this one has been on display before) there is a small scale version of the Three Gorges Dam. Maybe I just tend to get overly excited about things represented in miniature, but to me, these are fascinating examples of visual culture-giving a glimpse, quite literally, of how the Chinese government presents itself to its fellow countrymen and, by extension, the world.