Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States.
Located on the border of Maryland and Virginia, it is the political, economic, and cultural center of the United States. In honor of Washington, the founding father of the United States and Columbus, who discovered the New World of the Americas, it is also known as "Washington, D.C."
Washington Square
It is said that after the American Revolutionary War, 13 states quarreled over the location of the capital, and the northern and southern states did not give in to each other. In the end, the Federal Assembly adopted a compromise, choosing neither New York nor Philadelphia, but a new area of space in the middle of the north and south states, which is now Washington.
Washington is the capital of the United States, but its territory and population are far less than those of New York and Philadelphia. In the 1990s, Washington was a 174-square-kilometer city with a population of more than 1 million. In 1789, the first president, Washington, appointed Pierre Charles Langfang, a French engineer who had fought in the Revolutionary War, to design the new capital. Construction began in 1792, and in 1800 the second president, John Adams, moved the capital from Philadelphia.
Distant view of the Washington Memorial Tower
During the Second War between Britain and the United States in 1814, British troops occupied Washington and set fire to many buildings, including the Presidential Palace and the Capitol. What we see now is Washington, which was rebuilt in 1819.
Although all visits to Washington do not require tickets, there are too many people to visit the White House, and certain restrictions are required. So, on October 3, 1997, we got up at 6 o'clock, rushed from our suburban hotel to the center of the city, and lined up in front of a building to collect our tickets. Although we arrived early, there were already many people in front of the building and a long line was formed side by side. We just got into the line, and there was a steady stream of people behind us. After a while, the field in front of the door was full. People consciously arranged the line in a curved shape, like a long dragon, bending and swinging back and forth a few times. Although there is no one to maintain order here, people are consciously queuing, and none of them are inserted in the front.
Jackson Memorial
Because the visit to the White House must be carried out according to the time specified on the ticket, and it is still early to mark the time indicated on the ticket, the tour guide Ms. Xin Hanchun and the driver Pony led us to visit the memorial sites of several prominent figures in the history of the United States.
On the way, I carefully admired the cityscape of Washington. Discover that the city's architecture differs from both the bungalow-style San Diego, the skyscraper-like Chicago, and the densely built, narrower-street city of New York City. Washington's houses are not high,around the top three or four floors, but the architecture is high and grand. In particular, government office buildings are generally 8 marble columns in front of the door, and a white dome in the center of the top of the building is majestic.
Lincoln Memorial
Washington's streets are arranged in a checkerboard-like pattern, with east-west roads named in Arabic alphabetical order and north-south roads in English alphabetical order. There are also 13 diagonal avenues named after the first 13 states in the United States, intersecting these checkerboard-formatted roads. There are 22 streets from south to north and 22 streets from east to west. All streets are very wide and lined with green belts on both sides. The confluence of streets is dotted with squares, sculptures or fountains.
The first thing we visited was the Jackson Memorial. Jackson was the third president of the United States and a contributor to the Declaration of Independence. The memorial hall is somewhat similar to the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall in Beijing. There are many steps on both sides of the memorial hall, and in front of the main entrance are 8 thick marble columns. Jackson's tall sculpture is located in the center of the memorial hall. The whole building is all white. The memorial hall is surrounded by wide lawns. These lawns are so green that they are too big to be seen at a glance. In the middle of the lawn, there are some tall trees that grow sparsely and irregularly, including oak, maple and locust trees.
Roosevelt Memorial Park
Across the lawn, we came to Roosevelt Memorial Park. Roosevelt, along with Stalin and Churchill, was known as the Big Three of the Allies of World War II and had great prestige in the Hearts of the Americans. Roosevelt Memorial Park covers an area of about a dozen acres, and the architectural style is special, all made of large stones. There are many artificial waterfalls in the park, and there are many statues, each of which represents Roosevelt's history in a certain period.
The Lincoln Memorial, located southwest of the city, was inaugurated on February 14, 1914. Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States, born in 1809 and died in 1865. He pioneered the doctrine of the people's existence, the rule of the people, and the people's enjoyment, and was a great man who liberated black slaves. The architecture of the Lincoln Memorial resembles the Greek Pantheon. There are 12 columns on the front and on each side, for a total of 36, representing 36 states when Lincoln unified the north and south. In the center of the main hall is Lincoln's solemn seated statue, carved from 28 pieces of marble. On the walls on the north and south sides of the main hall are inscribed the full text of Lincoln's speech at Gettysburg and the full text of his second inaugural address. There are frescoes on the walls, and the theme is the emancipation of slaves and the unification of north and south. In front of the memorial hall, there is a rectangular reflection pool, flanked by blooming flowers and turquoise lawns, and the car path is circular around the memorial hall.
Roosevelt statue
When we entered the city in the early morning, we saw a majestic tower in the distance, which was particularly eye-catching. This tower is the Washington Memorial Tower.
The Washington Monument is a monumental building that is famous all over the world. It is the most prominent signpost in Washington, D.C., and the tower can be seen anywhere in the city. It is a hollow white marble building with a height of 169 meters. The construction of the monument took 36 years and was completed in 1884. Countries around the world donated 192 commemorative bricks, of which China donated two.
Recent photo of washington memorial tower
The tower is built on a hill that is flat on all sides, and a ring of American flags is planted on all sides of the tower. In front of the tower, there is a large reflection pond surrounded by flowers and plants, and the reflection of the tower shadow in the pool is very beautiful. At night, the tower is surrounded by lights, like a jade pillar, and the grandeur is extraordinary. There are 890 steps in the tower that spiral to the top of the tower, but most tourists take the elevator to go up. Standing at the top of the tower, you can see the scenery of the whole city from afar. To the east of the tower is the U.S. Capitol, to the south is the Jackson Memorial, to the west is the Lincoln Memorial, and to the north is the White House of the U.S. Presidential Office.
Take a photo in Washington Square
There is a vast area between the memorial tower and the White House, which is Washington Square. Saying it is a square is actually a meadow, because this area is full of lawns. The grass on the lawn was green, like a huge green carpet. It is also home to gatherings and demonstrations. As we passed by the square, many people were busy setting up a platform with loudspeakers. It looks like there's a big party going to be held here.