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 Located
in the center of Beijing City, the Tiananmen Square is a popular tourist
site, where you can visit Tiananmen Tower, Monument of the People's Heroes,
Great Hall of the People, Chairman Mao's Memorial Hall Mausoleum and watch
the national flag raising ceremony. Thousands of tourists visit the Tiananmen
Square every day. It is a must-see attraction in Beijing City.
The Tiananmen Tower is situated At the north end of the Square. This tower
was first built in 1417 during the Ming Dynasty, serving as the gateway
to the Forbidden City. The most important use of the gate in the imperial
age was for the government to declare big events to the ordinary people,
or hold the ceremonies of announcing the accession to the throne of new
emperors. No one could even access the
tower except for the royal family and aristocrats until 1911 when the last
feudal kingdom was overturned.
The granite Monument of the People's Heroes is right at the center of the
Tiananmen Square. Built in 1952, it is the the largest monument China has
ever built in the history. A sentence of "The People's Heroes are
Immortal" handwritten by Chairman Mao was color engraved on the monument.
There are eight huge relief sculptures installed the area surrounding the
monument, symbolizing the developments in China's modern history. The monument
is fenced with two rings of white marble baluster railings, with simple,
clean yet elegant appearance.
 The
west side of the Tiananmen Square is the location of famous Great Hall of
the People. This grand building, constructed in 1959, is not only the official
site of the China National People's Congress but also facilitates other
important political and diplomatic event. The front of the Hall is decorated
with twelve rare size marble columns. There are three main halls
in this structure, the Central Hall, the Great Auditorium and the Banquet
Hall. The floor of the Central Hall is paved with marble, while its ceiling
hangs many crystal lamps of different styles and sizes. The Great Auditorium
has a seat capacity of over ten thousand. The Banquet Hall can be used to
host 5,000 guests at the same time.
Chairman Mao's Memorial Hall is on the south end of the Square. Mao's body
has been kept in a crystal coffin that is surrounded by fresh bouquets of
various famous flowers and
grasses.
Another interesting site you may want to visit is the China National
Museum, located on the the east side of the Square. The museum was formed
2003 by combing two previous museums, Chinese History Museum and Chinese
Revolutionary Museum. The National Museum stands exactly opposite to the
Great Hall of the People, making the Tiananmen Square appear "symmetric".
There are many exhibitions of material objects, pictures, books and models
inside the Chinese Revolutionary Museum, demonstrating the developing paths
of China in modern history. The Chinese History Museum exhibits a large
number of cultural relics, illustrating China's long history and glorious
culture from millions of years ago to 1921 when the last emperor left the
throne.
The Chinese national flag flies high in the sky above the Square everyday.
To watch the guard of honor raise the Flag might be an exciting thing to
do when visiting Beijing. In order to attend the event, you may have to
get up early and arrive at the Square before sunrise.
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square in the world. The square serves not only as the symbol of Beijing
but also China as whole. This courtyard has also been the site of many
historical events. Surrounded the square are various important contemporary
landmark buildings in Beijing, including Chairman Mao's Mausoleum,
the Great Hall of the People. Several ancient structures are also located
on the sides of the square, including Tiananmen and the Qianmen Gate towers.
The flag raising and lowing ceremonies are held daily at the square, synchronizing
with sunrise and sunset. These events attract thousands of tourists from
all around the world.
The
Tiananmen Gate Tower was first built in the 1420s in the Ming Dynasty.
During the demise of the Ming Dynasty, fierce fighting between Li Zicheng
and the early Qing emperors once severely damaged the gate. The Tiananmen
square was originally designed and built in Beijing in 1651. It was expanded
to its current size and paved with cement in 1958.
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