Time to be a Tourist Part 4 and lunch

 The People's Liberation Monument - 2018 and then, probably late 1940s or early 1950s

Comparing the size of two new iPhone models

Colorful buildings and shopping all around the monument

Food court hostess

food on a stick

Lukas trying to capture our travel in the rain

What we found in the bookstore

Five people worked in this kiosk that was at most 10 x 10 ft

Mango Vanilla soft serve

We headed downtown to the People's Liberation Monument. This 27-meter tall structure was built to celebrate the victory over the Japanese in World War II. In 1950 it was renamed to commemorate the communist conquest of the area. The tower was surrounded by hundreds of poinsettia a welcome addition of color on a gray day.  Our guide took us to the underground food court where our senses were quickly overloaded by sights, smells, and sounds. The variety of food was amazing, and we watched as one vendor made the noodles for the soup that Bob ordered. The noodles were made out of green beans and had a distinct flavor to them. Each vendor had someone stand outside the stall with a microphone to invite people to the booth - and given the proximity, each screamed a little louder as if that would draw the customers in more quickly. In the middle of the food area, enterprising young singers bolted out the latest American songs with the help of a karaoke machine. It indeed was an experience for our senses although we were all rather happy to get out to the street again, where the noise that before entering the food court had seemed loud all of a sudden seemed subdued and quiet.  We rode the escalator up in a department store to get a bird's eye view of the square, visited the Apple store, and a giant bookstore before it was time to grab an ice cream and head back to the tour guide and the group.