Tiananmen Square is Beijing’s equivalent of the National Mall in D.C. It’s vast, sprawling, covered with Chinese tourists and surrounded by national landmarks.

I found myself there on Sunday for a quick sightseeing excursion. A light rain was falling and the humidity was heavy, so like most days here I was profusely sweating and regretting lugging my laptop with me.

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The thousands of Chinese tourists milling about the massive square didn’t seem to mind the weather. They were fascinated with the flowers.

The square has been transformed during the Olympics and now features massive, Olympic-themed flower sculptures. Chinese tourists posed in front of a replica of the Bird’s Nest and Chinese characters made of shrubbery that repeated the 2008 Olympics “One World, One Dream” slogan.

As I milled through the crowd, I saw an American wearing a black polo with a Carolina Panthers logo across the square. Small world? Definitely.

I’m originally from Charlotte and was as surprised to see a Panthers logo in the middle of Tiananmen Square as I was to hear that Chris Tucker attended the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics. When I walked closer, I saw that it was USA Canoe & Kayak communications director Bill McMillan, who was with the organization’s executive director, David Yarborough. The two were killing a few hours the day before their sport opened in Beijing.

We headed to the Forbidden City. None of us had any idea that we were walking into a sprawling, 180-acre complex with more than 10,000 rooms. We figured we’d breeze through it in about an hour. Not so much. It took almost two.

The first thing that jumped out at us was the basketball court inside the first gate of the complex. The court is for soldiers, but if the NBA’s ever going to do an outdoor game like the NHL started, that would be the place. No need for fans. Just set up the cameras and roll.