A huge portrait of Chairman Mao hangs on Tiananmen, the Gate of Heavenly Peace, on the north side of Tiananmen Square.  From the platform just above that portrait, Mao declared the creation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.  Forty years earlier, the square didn’t exist; and the square he overlooked that day in 1949 was smaller than the one he overlooks now.  Tiananmen Square was expanded to its current size, designed to hold a million people, during his first decade in power.

Tiananmen, the gate itself, is both old and new.  It was originally completed in 1417 during the Ming dynasty construction of the Forbidden City, and was restored in 1651 during the first decade of the Qing dynasty.  However, the gate one sees today is not that Tiananmen.  In 1969, after architects and engineers found the gate to be irreparably crumbling, Tiananmen was replicated, brick by brick, on the same spot.  Physically, the Gate of Heavenly Peace is newer that nearly all the structures on Tiananmen Square.

Just south of Tiananmen, the amazingly wide Chang’an Avenue runs east-west; one must walk through an underground tunnel to cross it.  South of Chang’an is the northern end of Tiananmen Square, and it is here that China’s official flag-raising and flag-lowering ceremonies take place at sunrise and sunset every day.  These are popular events for Chinese tourists, and about the only excitement in Tiananmen Square; other than that, the wide expanse is just a scattering of tourist groups, food vendors, locals flying kites, and Chinese students approaching Westerners to invite them to an art exhibition.

The Great Hall of the People, situated along the west side of Tiananmen Square.  The National People’s Congress meets here, and the building contains a huge auditorium with horrible acoustics where concerts are occasionally held.  (Fortunately, the newly-built National Center for the Performing Arts, just behind this building, will take over that musical function shortly.)  The Great Hall was built as part of a massive construction effort in 1959 for the tenth anniversary of the People’s Republic.  At the time of its design, China had good relations with the Soviet Union, hence the Soviet style of architecture.  But when the countries had a falling out during construction, the Soviet builders of the Great Hall left the roof unfinished.  So Chinese eaves were used for the roof in place of the originally planned Russian-style cupolas.  The result is a structure that employs the worst of both worlds.

The Monument to the People’s Heroes, in the center of Tiananmen Square, looking north; the Gate of Heavenly Peace can be seen in the distance.  This structure too was constructed around the time of the tenth anniversary of the People’s Republic.  Carvings around the base tell the story of revolutionary events in China over the past two centuries.

Just south of the Monument is the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall, where an embalmed Mao lies in state.  The Memorial Hall was built within a year of Mao’s death in 1976, and was the last planned building on Tiananmen Square.  This sculpture in front of the Hall is far more eye-catching that the Hall itself.

Looking north from near the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall toward the Monument to the People’s Heroes.  It is quite rare to see clouds like this above Beijing, which is why I visited Tiananmen Square on this day.

Completing the circle around the perimeter of Tiananmen Square is the National Museum of China, on the east side of the square.  This is another of the 1959 structures in the square, and as it closes for a massive renovation and expansion over the coming years, its most exciting feature is the Beijing 2008 Olympics countdown clock out front.  Just 790 days to go before the opening ceremony.

Inside Tiananmen, the Gate of Heavenly Peace, looking back south toward the square.  In the distance are the national flag, the Monument to the People’s Heroes, and the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall.

Moving forward through the gate northward, one walks along an unusually long walled path before reaching the southern entrance of the Forbidden City, beyond the cannons shown here.  (The cannon in the foreground was the first one created in the Qing Dynasty.)  Unbeknownst to many tourists rushing forward to see the Forbidden City, there are parks on either side of that long path, hidden behind the walls - Zhongshan Park and the Workers Cultural Palace - and they too were part of the Imperial City in the past.  Those two parks will be covered on the following pages before moving on to the Forbidden City.