Tiananmen Square, Beijing

2 more images

The centre of the square is dominated by a high monument, always with a honor guard. It is the Monument to the People's Heroes, commemorating the martyrs who devoted their lives to the Chinese people.

With almost 38 meters, it is the biggest monument in Chinese history.

I noticed that the young guards' uniform changed a lot, which means that they are several youth organizations paying tribute to their heroes.

4 more images

Everybody comes to Tian'anmen Square when visiting Beijing. This square is huge. The main attraction is the Tian'anmen Gate with the Mao's picture hanging on the outer wall. Then, it comes down with The Monument of the People's Heroes, Dr Sun Yat Sen 's picture is displayed there too. It follows by Chairman Mao Zedong's Memorial Hall facing the Zhengyang Gate. On west side of the square is The Great Hall of the People, and the east side is the National Museum of China.

This should be the first place to visit in Beijing. You can spend the whole day here visiting from one museum to another, including the forbidden city.

Memorable Events:
* 1919, May Fourth Movement.
* Oct 1, 1949, Mao Zedong declared the founding of the People's Republic of China.
* 1976, Tian'anmen Square Protest.
* 1989, Tian'anmen Square Protest.
* Sept 18, 1979, Memorial Service of Mao Zedong.

I was here during Chinese National Day 2010. It was very crowded, but I could feel the National Day Celebration here with the Chinese visitors. It looks like they are very proud of their country with success through communism.

In Chinese: 天安门广场 (Tian An Men Guang Chang)

4 more images

Zhongshan Park is located on east side of the Tian'anmen Gate. After visiting The National Centre for Performing Arts, we walked Nanchang street and visited Zhongshan Park through Xiyimen (Xiyi Gate). It is a beautiful park with colorful flowers, and old trees. We walked by several Chinese gardens, Chinese pavilions, and imperial temples. The most important attraction in the park is the ancient building of Zhongshan Hall. Dr. Sun Yat Sen statue was displayed and surrounded by beautiful flower artwork. We exit through the south gate door, next to Tian'anmen Gate.

Admission: Y3

Opening Hour: 6am-9pm.

In Chinese: 中山公园 (Zhong Shan Gong Yuan)

4 more images

On 4/10/2011, there were too many tourists to the Forbidden City. Due to crowd, I decided to visit some other attractions which have less crowd. So, Workers Cultural Palace was one of the places that I had chosen. Surprisingly, There were no large tour groups when I entered the park. It is a huge park with nice Chinese garden and water canals. In the center of the park is the Front Hall and the Middle Hall surrounded by red walls and gates. The entire layout is like a small version of The Forbidden City. It was worth spending my time here, enjoyed it very much!

The signboard was written as:
"Beijing Working People's Cultural Palace is situated on the east side of Tian'anmen. It used to be the imperial Ancestral Temple for offering sacrifices to Heaven and the Earth in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Built in 1420 (the 18th year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty), it covers a total area of 197,000 aquare meters, and is circled by tree red walls. The three halls inside the Halberd Gate, which are the central structure, are imposing and solemn, with roofs covered with yellow glazed tiles. The front hall, called Sacrificial Hall, was for holding grand sacrificial ceremonies. It stands on a tri-tiered sumeru base made of white marble. Inside the hall, the sixty-eight columns and the wooded components are all made of expensive golden-silk nanmu wood; the floor is paved with golden bricks, and the ceiling is adorned with colored gilded painting. The former imperial forbidden compound was turned into Beijing Working People's Cultural Palace after 1949, with its name inscribed by Chairman Mao. It was officially opened to the public on May 1, 1950. Over the past 50 years, it has become a 'school and amusement park' for working people, and a national ' model cultural palace for workers'......"

Admission: Y2

Opening Hours: 6:30am to 8:30pm. (During Holiday: 8:30am to 5:00pm)

2 more images

The Middle Hall is also called resting hall where the emperor and empresses rest before and after any ceremonies. It is a single story building situated between the Front Hall and Rear Hall.

The signboard was written as:
" Built in 1420 (the 18th year of Yongle reign in the Ming Dynasty), the hall has a single-eave hip roof covered with yellow glazed tile. It is nine-bay (62.31 meters) wide and four-bay (20.54 meters) deep and 21.95 meters high. It has a Sumeru base made of white marble which is surrounded by stone handrails, balusters carved with dragon and phoenix, and vermilion path in the middle of the steps. The hall houses the sacrificial tablets of imperial ancestors. The interior is furnished with a throne, an incense-burner table, bed, mattress and pillow, etc. In the late Qing Dynasty, the hall housed the tablets of the emperors and empresses of eleven reigns, such as Nurgaci, Huangtaiji, Fulin, Xuanye, Yinzhen, Hongli, etc. The day before the sacrificial ceremony, the tablets would be moved to the throne in the sacrificial hall and then moved back when the ceremony was over. "

Learn the items of its cultural heritages including the The Furnace, Bronze Cauldron, and Bronze Vats.

In Chinese:中殿 (Zhong Dian)

4 more images

The Front Hall is a hall for worship of ancestors. This is the main building where all the large-scare ceremonies of ancestor worship took place. I found it very impressive to see the remains of its building and buildings surrounded it. It really reflects your imagination of the pass emperors' life.

The signboard was written as:

"This hall, or the Front Hall, was the place where all the large scale ceremonies of ancestor worship took place in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Built in 1420 the building was repeatedly repaired in later times but was modeled on that of the Ming. As the main part of the Imperial Ancestral Temple, it is 32.46 meters high and has a standard double-eaved hip roof with eleven bays wide (68.2 meters in length) along the front by six bays deep (30.2 meters in width), standing on a three-tiered white marble Sumeru dais (3.46 meters in height). Under the eaves is a horizontal inscribed board with characters "Tai Miao" (Imperial Ancestral Temple) in Manchu and Chinese. In the interior of the hall, floor are paved with highly-finished bricks, and 68 vermilion columns and decorated beams of Nanmu wood look resplendant and magnificent. It is China's largest existing palatial hall constructed of Namu wood.

In this hall, seats and beds for the tablets of emperors and empresses, incense burner tables and offerings were kept. On the occasions of large-scale ceremonies for worship of ancestors, such as "Shi Xiang (ceremonies held in first month of four seasons), "Xia Ji" (ceremony held at the end of a year) and "Gao Ji" (ceremonies for great national events), the Qing emperor would come here to take part in. Before "Xia Ji", the memorial tablets of ancestors were moved from the Middle Hall and the Rear Hall to their seat here."

Also visit the Middle Hall!!

In Chinese: 太庙 (Tai Miao)

3 more images

My initial impression of Tiananmen Square was how clean it was...remarkably free of blood which is always a good thing. But I guess I should of figured there wouldn't be any lingering blood stains, after all they have had 23 years to clean up since the last massacre. My second impression was just how large and open the square is, it really shouldn't of been a surprise as it ranks as the third largest square in the world. It serves as a great starting point as the museum and Forbidden City are just across the street. Its a great place to visit on sunny day and although there really isn't anywhere to sit, other than on the ground, its a great place to get a tan! Just make sure to avoid it all together if you see alot of angry students filling the square.

The square is so big that even the important buildings at each side seem irrelevant.

At the southern side, an austere building flanked by statues in the typical Chinese revolutionary style is the mausoleum of Mao.

The signs that things are quickly changing in China are the absence of the usual long reverential lines. We didn't see much people entering it, and we didn't, either.

1 more image

Tiannamon Square is the largest public square on earth. It is bordered by the National Museum, several Government Buildings including the Mausoleum of Chairman Mao and the southern most gate of the Forbidden City to the north.
Also here is one of the remaining gates from the Ming Dynasty (14th-17th Century).

1 more image

The Furnace is located at the left side of the Front Hall. It is an ancient furnace to burn used silks and booklets of the Front Hall.

The signboard was written as:

"This was built in the Ming Dynasty to burn silk and booklets used at the Sacrificial Hall and its west side chamber. The whole furnace made of quality and firm plain white glaze articles is modeled on a wooden structure, with a single-eave gable and hip roof paved with curved tiles, a bracket architrave beneath the eaves, and a round column at each of the four corners. The furnace door is adorned with carved ribbon patterns, and the other three sides have carved rhombus patterns. Under the furnace is an exquisitely carved sumeru base."