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Surveyed by a triumphant statue of Manas, Bishkek's nominal centre is architecturally neo-brutalist in style, but it has a perversely photogenic quality especially when slowly goose-stepping soldiers change the guard beside the soaring national flagpole. That happens every two hours most of the year, hourly in winter. In summer, the concrete of the square's northern half is relieved by attractive floral displays and a musical fountain show