principal sites around tian'anmen

tian'anmen (gate of heavenly peace)

tian'anmen (gate of heavenly peace) rostrum was opened to the public for the first time in its history in 1988. from the rostrum of tian'anmen, the late chairman mao zedong proclaimed the founding of the people's republic of china on october 1, 1949, and since then it has been the symbol of new china.

in modern chinese history, several large mass demonstrations have taken place here. the most famous was on may 4th movement of 1919, when more than 3, 000 students from beijing schools and universities came to the square to demonstrate against imperialism and the rule of the military leaders. the event was a landmark in modern chinese history.

the structure was first named chengtianmen (gate of power endowed from heaven or gate of heavenly succession) when it was built in 1417 as the main gate of the former imperial palace. in 1456 the wooden structure burned down after it was struck by lightning. it was rebuilt in 1651, and renamed tian'anmen (gate of heavenly peace). in 1644, when the manchus defeated li zieheng, leader of a peasant uprising, be set fire to the building before running away from the city. the building was enlarged when it was rebuilt for the second time in 1651, and this is the structure, which still stands today. the nine-room-wide and live-room-long wooden gate tower was built to reflect the highly exalted status of the emperor. sixty spherical columns from indonesia support the entire building. the wood is very hard. to make the columns immortal, the workers scooped out a hole with 10-centimelxe in diameter in each column with special bit and tool for injecting insecticide, the prevention and control of plant diseases and elimination of pests, waterproof and anticorrosive. each column is 10 me- ties long and weighs 7 tons.

located to the north of tian'anmen square, the building has red stonewalls, a wooden roof and five entrances--the largest, in the middle, leads to the forbidden city. the building is surrounded by a moat, jinshui (golden water), which was designed to guard the imperial palace. five marble bridges, the golden water bridges, lead to the five passages of the gate. two ornamental columns stand in front of the whole complex.

the gate and the square were out of bounds to the public in imperial times. the emperor alone was entitled to pass through the central passage.

before leaving on a journey he would make a sacrifice in front of the gate. at other times imperial edicts were sent down, in a gilded box shaped like a phoenix, to officials kneeling below. hence the expression: "the imperial orders given by the gilded phoenix”. the edict was then taken to the ministry of rites where copies were made for dispatch to the whole country. it was also the place for the emperor to review royal armies and receive prisoners of war.

tian’anmen (gate of heavenly peace) is not only the site of the most important gatherings since the founding of the people' s republic of china, but also one of the most valuable historical sites in china. parades take place here on important days, such as the rallies on may 1, international labour day. before each parade the building is repainted and generally tidied up. the whole tower roof was replaced as part of a large-scale restoration in 1984, following the original line and shape. the balcony is 34.7 metres high, 62.77 metres long and 27.25 metres wide. it can hold 20, 000 guests. there are 67 steps leading to the top of the rostrum of tian'anmen gate.

tian'anmen square

tiaa'anmen square encompasses 44 hectares (108.7 acres), 880 metres from north to south and 500 metres from east to west, big enough to hold haft a million people. the square has witnessed the chinese people's struggle against foreign aggression and reactionary rule at home.

in 1919, the may 4th movement broke out in beijing. students and residents staged a patriotic demonstration in the square. in 1935, students in beijing launched the december 9th movement against the japanese aggression and chiang kai-shek's policy of non-resistance. they held a demonstration in the square.

on april 5, 1976, lots of people gathered here to commemorate zhou enlai and oppose the "gang of four'--jiang qing, wang hongwen, zhang chunqiao and yan wenyuan. many tourists to tian'anmen square would like to have their pictures taken in front of the white marble jinshuiqiao (golden water bridges).

the bridges were named after the golden water river they span. seven bridges, each supported by three arches, cross the outer golden water river in front of tian'anmen, zhongshan park, and the beijing working people's palace of culture. five one-arched bridges cross the inner gold- en water river inside the forbidden city between wumen (meridian gate) and taihemen (gate of supreme harmony).

the outer bridges, together with two graceful huabiao (ornamental columns) and two stone lions nearby set off tian'anmen, making it look more imposing. the inner bridges make the spacious square look harmonious.

during the ming and qing dynasties, the middle one of the seven outer bridges, which is larger than the others was called bridge of the imperial way and was used exclusively by the emperor. the two bridges on each side were called royal bridges and were used by the royal family members. the two bridges farther out were the ranking bridges and were used by civil and military officials above the third rank. those of the fourth rank and below could use only the outer two bridges, which were called public bridges.

the beijing municipal government launched a nine-month project to renovate tian'anmen square in the heart of the capital. reconstruction started in october 1998 and was completed by june 1999, in time for the grand celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of the people's republic of china on october 1, 1999, improved the worn-out pavement, public address system, and lighting around the periphery of the world's largest square, installing new foundations and repairing under- ground pipelines. the bricks on the square were replaced with 340, 000 pink granite slabs to cover 156, 900 square metres (the gradient of the square is 3 per thousand easy for flow of rainwater and each slab is 99. 5cm x 49.5 cm x 15 cm) and shipped in from nearby hebei province (they are said to be wear and tear proof and have a more beautiful finish), the public-address system modernized, the low-wattage street lights replaced with more efficient ones, and more decorative lights installed to illuminate the buildings around the square. all these slabs weighed 130, 000 tons, with 50, 000 cubic metres. fifty eight spot checks were made during the construction of the whole project. the goal was to create a 21st century style square which reflects china's modernity, and new capital. the first renovation of tian’anmen square took place in 1959.

the renovation of the square was part of beijing's move to improve its appearance for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the people's republic of china.

a grand parade marking the 50th anniversary of the founding of the people's republic of china (prc) was staged on the morning of october 1, 1999 in tian'anmen square in central beijing. the square was turned into a huge garden with millions of petted flowers. the five-star red flag-- china's national flag--could be seen all over the city. some 500, 000 people, military and civilians, gathered in the square and adjacent streets, in anticipation of the moment they had all been waiting for--the start of the parade at 10:00 am. president jiang zemin and other top officials reviewed the troops, and military vehicles, missiles and warplanes, most of which were mode in china. after the military parade came the turn of civil society with various activities to celebrate the grand occasion, including the performance of a traditional dragon dance. dozens of specially designated floats featuring china's major social and economic developments during the -past five decades thrilled the audience as they passed through the square.

the grand national day parade ended with the release of tens of thou- sands of colorful balloons. some 50, 000 homing pigeons were also let loose in the skies over the square. new china has staged 13 national day military parades and celebration activities in tian'anmen square since it was founded in 1949.

in the evening of the same day, fireworks lit up the sky as 100, 000 jubilant chinese took part in a song and dance extravaganza in tian'anmen square to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the people's republic of china.

the eastern and western tian’anmen square subway stations were built. the tian'anmen section, part of the fuxiagmen and bawangfen subway project, was built to help ease excess traffic in the downtown area of the national capital. the western station has two levels, one with three en- trances and exits. the three-floor eastern station has seven entrances and exits.

chairman mao memorial hall

south of the monument to the people's heroes is chairman mao memorial hall. the foyer houses a seated figure of chairman mao in white marble. behind it is a 7-by-24-metre needlepoint woolen tapestry "such a beauty is our motherland." in the second room, chairman mao's remains recline in a crystal coffin, with the red flag of the communist party of china draped over his body. the building was completed in 1977.

currently, the remains of late chairman mao are mechanically raised from a freezer for viewing, then lowered again at night.

sculptures

the sculpture groups are 6 to 8 metres high and 7 to 15 metres long. the two on the north side are designed on the theme "great contributions," representing what the chinese people achieved in the last half century under the leadership of chairman mao. those on the south side have as their theme "carry out chairman mao's behest," expressing the chinese people's determination to act on his behest and carry the cause of our proletarian revolution through to the end.

monument to the people's heroes

the monument to the people's heroes was built in memory of the martyrs who laid down their byes for the revolutionary struggle of the chinese people in the past century. it was built in accordance with the resolution of the first plenary session of the chinese people's political consultative conference adopted on november 30, 1949. chairman mao and other delegates laid the corner stone for the monument on that afternoon.

the 38-metre-high monument was open on july 1, 1958. it covers an area of 3,000 square metres. the stone tablet is from qingdao, shandong province. on the front is an inscription in chairman mao's handwriting: "eternal glory to the people's heroes!" on the back is the late premier zhou enlai's message: "eternal glory to the people's heroes who laid down their lives in the war of liberation in the past three years and the people's revolution in the past three decades y eternal glory to the people's heroes who laid down their lives in the struggles against foreign and domestic enemies, for national independence and for the people's freedom and happiness from 1840 onward!' at the base of the tablet are eight huge bas relieves carved out of white marble covering the revolutionary episodes.

burning opium in the opium war in 1840

a revolutionary movement broke out to resist the smuggling of large quantities of opium into china by the british imperialists. in june 1839, altogether 1.15 million kilograms of opium was destroyed. it showed the chinese people's determination to struggle against imperialism and marked the beginning of their resistance.

jintian village uprising in taiping revolution

the taiping revolution was the biggest and longest revolutionary peasant uprising in the chinese history. led by hong xiuquan (1814-1864), this great anti-imperialist, anti-feudal peasant movement first broke out in jintian village in guangxi in 1851. the revolutionary flames soon spread to six provinces and the revolutionaries established their capital in nanjing.

wuhang uprising (1911 revolution)

1911 was the year in which the decisive battle against the manchu government was fought. late on the evening of october 10, the revolutionary forces wrecked the cannon in front of the office building of the governor of both hunan and hubei provinces, pulled down the royal flag and broke through the gate of the governor's mansion. the first success of the revolution was at wuhan. the last feudal dynasty collapsed under the fierce attack of the revolutionary torrent on october 10, 1911.

may 4th movement

an anti-imperialist patriotic movement broke out on may 4, 1919 in beijing. it was the turning point of the chinese democratic revolution. on that day, several thousand beijing students held a rally in front of tian'anmen. a parade followed in which participants held aloft banners inscribed "no signature to the 'peace treaty'!" and distributed the leaflets "uphold our sovereignty! punish the traitors! '

may 30th movement

a demonstration by shanghai workers and students on may 30, 1925 ushered in a vigorous anti-imperialist movement. demonstrators' banners thundered "down with the imperialists!' and "revenge gu zhenghong, a splendid representative of china's workers shot down by the imperialists!'

nanchang uprising

chiang kai-shek launched a coup on april 12, 1927 and began slaughtering communists. to save the revolution and continue struggle, the chinese communist patty fired the first shot at the kuomintang reactionaries in the nanchang uprising on august 1, 1927. this was the day the chinese communist party began to lead the revolutionary armed forces independently against the counter-revolutionary armed forces. hence august 1 is the birthday of the chinese people's liberation army.

war of resistance against japan

army men and civilians in the revolutionary base areas carried out chairman mao's thinking on protracted war. the chinese communist party called on the people's army to go to the enemy's rear to launch guerrilla warfare, mine warfare, etc. war educated the people and the people won the war.

successful crossing of the yangtze river

this was the prelude to the liberation of the whole country. an army one million strong made a forced crossing of the yangtze river on april 21, 1949 to overthrow the chiang kai-shak regime. on the fight are the masses helping the pla men to make the crossing. on the left are the liberated nanjing people welcoming the entrance of the pla men. the liberation of the kuomintang capital heralded the liberation of the whole country.

the great hall of the people

construction of the great hall of the people started in october 1958 and was completed by the end of august 1959, taking ten months altogether.

it has a total floor space of 171,800 square metres, 20, 000 square me- tires more than that of the palace museum in the neighborhood. it is 206 metres long and 336 metres wide. its highest point is 46.5 metres from the ground. in front of the great hall of the people there are 39 steps.

it consists of three major sections: in the north is the banquet hall that accommodates 5, 000 people; in the centre is the grand auditorium with a seating capacity of 10, 000; offices of the standing committee of the national people's congress are in the south. there are more than 300 reception rooms and conference halls of various sizes. thirty-four reception rooms are furnished by and named after various provinces, municipalities, autonomous regions and special administrative regions.

each room is featured by its own local style. today, we'll visit some of them. they are the reception rooms of taiwan province, sichuan province, hunan province, liaoning province, guangdong province, shanghai municipality and beijing municipality.

we are now in the central foyer. it's for the people attending meetings to take a rest during intervals. the floor is paved with natural marble and the 20 pillars are made of white marble. each crystal glass chandelier weighs 1.2 tons.

the 10, 000-seat auditorium

the auditorium is used for important occasions such as sessions of the national people's congress, the party congress and mass political rallies to support the just struggle of the people of other countries. the massive hall is 76 metres in width, 60 metres in length and 32 metres in height, with a balcony and a gallery. there are 3, 600 seats on the ground floor, 3, 500 on the balcony and 2, 500 on the gallery. the stage can hold a presidium of 300 to 500 people. the total seating capacity is ten thousand. it is also used for festive celebrations and grand stage shows. the proscenium can be converted into an orchestra pit by removing the floor beards.

the seats on the ground floor are equipped with earphones, through which one can hear a simultaneous translation of a speech in any one of 12 different languages. every two seats share a loudspeaker and every four seats a microphone for extemporaneous speeches. on the ceiling are 500 star lights with an enormous red star in the centre. seventy light beams radiate in all directions enclosed by a ring of 40 sunflower petals, which in turn is skirted by three layers of hidden lights in the form of expanding waves. this beautiful pattern symbolizes the close unity of the people of the whole country around the party in their forward march from victory to victory. the ones that have no light are ventilation holes.

the auditorium has three main features: people can evacuate rapidly through its 32 doors; the fan shape hall provides a good view of the presidium from any angle; the acoustics is very good.

built-in lighting equipment for filming documentaries is set in a crescent shape facing the stage.

balcony

the balcony is for non-voting deputies and foreign envoys. a loudspeaker is installed at the back of each seat on the balcony and the gallery. simultaneous translation in different languages is provided for by block allocation of seats. the volume control is installed on the left arm of the seat.

 

 

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