Tiananmen Square

Tiananmen Square Review

The world's largest public square, and the very heart of modern China, Tiananmen Square owes little to grand imperial designs and everything to Mao Zedong. Young protesters who assembled here in 1919 as part of the May Fourth Movement established a tradition of patriotic dissent, which was repeated in 1989. Today the square is packed with sightseers, families, and undercover policemen. Although formidable, the square is a little bleak, with no shade, benches, or trees. Come here at night for an eerie experience—it's a little like being on a film set.

Highlights

Watch the military guard raise China's flag at dawn. Wide-eyed visitors converge on Tiananmen Square each day to watch soldiers goose stepping out of the Forbidden City.

Take in the surrounding sights. The square is sandwiched between two grand gates: the Gate of Heavenly Peace (Tiananmen) to the north and the Front Gate (Qianmen) in the south. Along the western edge is the Great Hall of the People. The National Museum of China lies along the eastern side.

Try your hand at flying a kite. Itinerant vendors sell kites of all kinds.

Visit the Monument to the People's Heroes. A 125-foot granite obelisk commemorates those who died for the revolutionary cause of the Chinese people.

Contemplate history. At the height of the Cultural Revolution, hundreds of thousands of Red Guards crowded the square; in June 1989 the square was the scene of tragedy when student demonstrators were killed.

Tips & Trivia

You can access a 360-degree panorama of the square online at www.roundtiananmensquare.com.

The only way to cross Chang'an Jie between Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City is to use the pedestrian underpasses.

On October 1, 1949, Mao Zedong announced the establishment of the People's Republic of China from the Gate of Heavenly Peace.

A network of tunnels lies beneath Tiananmen Square. Mao Zedong is said to have ordered them dug in the late 1960s after Sino-Soviet relations soured. They are said to extend across Beijing.

Beijing's ancient central axis runs right through the center of Mao Zedong's mausoleum, the Forbidden City, the Drum and Bell towers, and the Olympic Green