It was 19 years ago that the tanks rolled into the square and people seeking to commemorate the event may want to consider smashing a small bottle. “Xiao ping” is a homonym for “little bottle” and the personal name of Deng Xiaoping, one of the leaders blamed for the crackdown. Also consider saying the phrase “po guan po shuai”, which suggests the bottle should be smashed in a violent way because a good bottle should be well-protected.
The crackdown also meant that students entering university after 1989 had to complete military service before starting their studies. In some cases this was up to a year but other places it was about three months, possibly depending on how active the university was in the protests. When asked what she learned from the training, one alumnus said: “I learned to endure.”
