Forbidden City

Ted, Alex’s reporter father, is always desperate to get the story. No chance is too dangerous for him. He is exuberant when they arrive in China and wants to take Alex around with him. This changes when Ted begins to see what harm could come to him and his son. Unfortunately, he is not able to protect Alex at the moment of the massacre and the two are separated. When they are reunited, their bond is strengthened, as they both have new appreciate for their personal freedom and each other.

Fellow journalist, Eddie, is less enthusiastic than Ted and a great deal more cynical. He suspects Communist Party manipulation of the truth long before it is proven. He is also critical of Lao Xu all along, even though Alex wishes to believe that Lao Xu is a friend and not just a spy. Often abrasive in conversation, Eddie feels that it is his job to try and open Alex’s eyes.

Alex meets this student protester when he is injured in the crowd. Feverish and in pain, Alex begs for help finding his father, and Xiao-Yang risks his own safety, travelling back to the square to look for Alex’s father or find out news of his whereabouts. 

Hong is one of the first student protesters that Alex encounters, one who speaks good English so the two can meaningful converse. From Hong, Alex gets a sense of the students demands (namely for freedom and democracy). Later when Alex is injured, it is Hong who helps to nurse him back to health.

Lao Xu accompanies the reporters around China, purportedly as a government-issued guide to make their travel experience easier. Alex takes to Lao Xu at once. The two spend time visiting the local sites and listening to a storyteller over tea. Eddie tells Alex to be wary of Lao Xu, who may be a spy. Alex’s feelings of trust towards Lao Xu are confirmed when Lao Xu stands between the students and soldiers and yells, “What are you doing?” at the men who gun him down.

The female leader of the student group, Xin-hua is small and fragile in appearance but tough and courageous in personality and might. She comes up with a plan to rescue both Alex and his footage of the massacre. When the plan goes awry, she sacrifices her own life in order for Alex to get to freedom and share his story with the world.

Xin-hua’s grandmother nurses and feeds Alex when he is in bed, unable to walk from his gunshot wound. It is clear to Alex that she has little in terms of food or material possessions, but she generously offers all that she has to him. Although he speaks only a little Chinese and she speaks no English, the two manage to connect via kindness and shared affection.