I like cannons. What can I say? What is hard to express is the scale of this place. It is free to go inside the Tiananmen gate and wander around the Imperial City, and that in itself should take a day. There are lakes and parks and all kinds of shops and activities there. Plus soldiers are always marching around, and even squads of men dressed in matching blue slacks, blazers, white shirts and black ties. We never did figure out who they were.