Beijing’s Tian’anmen Square: The Bleeding Heart of China

As the world’s largest public space (500m x 800m) Tian'anmen Square inexorably draws people in by virtue of its sheer size alone but once there the dull grey square (constructed to rigid socialist aesthetics) under equally dull grey skies (which obscure any chance of appreciating its grandeur) would seem to contain little to hold them, but look beyond the smog obscured edges of the square for some of the cities most important sites.

To it’s north beyond the great Tian’anmen Gate itself, adorned with the somewhat unappealing visage of the Chairman Mao, lies the legendary Forbidden City onetime home of the great Mandarins of this land and now the country’s most visited tourist attraction. Next door to which is it’s modern day equivalent, the equally forbidden, Zhongnanhai, the private compound of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

To the west stands the oppressive magnificence of the Great Hall of the People China’s so called parliament building which is open to the public, when not in session, for those who want to see the place where all the country’s most important decisions are rubber stamped. To the east is it’s twin structure the National Museum which tells the true version of Chinese history, or at least doubtless will do when it finally reopens to the public sometime in 2010.

Finally at the southern foot of the square is one of China's ugliest constructions, the wax encrusted remains of the Great Helmsman himself, on brief public view in a building that is almost as ugly, the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall. Overlooking all of this is the magnificent Qianmen, southern gateway to the square and one of the few ancient constructions to have escaped the purges of Mao’s merciless city planners, now home to a small exhibition hall on the area.

Quick Tips:

The somewhat restricted nature of the area means that is hardly awash with places to sleep, eat or drink and those that are here tend to be overpriced due to its central location so it is probably best to base yourself in either the backpacker ghetto of Xuanwu District to the southwest or the high-class tourist area of Dongcheng District to the east.

Although the daytime is when the square is at it’s liveliest with throngs of worshipful Chinese tour groups here to pay homage and the rare protestor here to make a quickly curtailed statement it is at night as the lights dim and the security takes a slightly more relaxed stance that I personally find the place most bearable.

Best Way To Get Around:

The square lies at the very heart of the city and hence the heart of it’s public transport network with numerous buses, taxis and pedicabs circling the square. It is also served by three metro stations Tian’anmen Xi and Tian’anmen Dong on Line 1 at northwest and northeast corners of the square respectively and Qianmen on Line 2 to the south.

The city’s main railway station Beijing Zahn is a couple of stops on Metro Line 2 to the east while the significantly larger station of Beijing Xi is a few stops on Metro Line 1 to the west. Train buffs might also want to look out for the beautiful Old Station built by the British on the southwest corner of the square that has been converted into shops and restaurants.

"Long live the great leader and mentor Chairman Mao"

In pride of place at the foot of Tian’anmen Square stand a rather ugly squat little building that houses, for the time being at least, the mortal remains of a rather ugly squat little man who still dominates the ideology of the New China he created.

Mao Zedong grew up in the rural communities of southern China where his ideology was formed. In 1921 he was one of the founders of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and he rose up through it’s ranks without ever truly understanding Marxist theory. He became defacto head of the CPC during the Long March (1934-35) and remade it in his own image emphasising the importance of the peasantry and guerilla warfare. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) swept Mao to power and in 1949 he declared the formation of the People’s Republic of China from Tian’anmen Gate. The Great Helmsman’s time in power included such controversies as the Great Leap Forward (1958-60) and the Cultural Revolution (1966-76) which left millions of his own people dead.

Following Mao’s own death in 1976 his chosen successor Hua Guofeng decided to try and shore up his somewhat shaky leadership by bringing the country together to build a suitable memorial. Granite from Sichuan, tiles from Guangdong, pines from Shaanxi and Jiangxi, decorative rocks from Nanjing and Tibet, earth from the recently devastated city of Tangshan and sand from the Taiwan Straits were used in the construction. 700,000 volunteers from all over the country were lined up to move bricks backwards and forwards in symbolic but ultimately pointless work. Finally, like Lenin and Ho Chi Minh before him, Mao’s body was, thanks to some Vietnamese knowhow, preserved against his wishes and put on display in a mighty crystal coffin.

The Maosoleum (Tue-Sun 8:30am-11:30am + Tue&Thu 2pm-4pm, free) can be visited by dropping off your bags and camera in the luggage store across the road and joining the cues at the north entrance. While outside you can rent flowers to leave at the foot of the massive white statue of Mao that dominates the Memorial Hall. Beyond this you will quickly hurried past row upon row of uniformed PLA troops on guard to prevent Mao's escape before catching a brief glimpse of the waxy looking little corpse in it’s natty Sun Yat-sen suit draped with the Chinese flag in the Hall of Last Respects and then out into the massive gift shop where you can buy copies of the so-called Little Red Book of Quotations from Chairman Mao, the wonderful waving Mao pocket watches and other tourist tack of which The Great Helmsman would doubtless approve.

Today even the party can’t ignore Mao’s failings taking the official line that he was 70% right and 30% wrong if those odds change much more the Maosoleums days could be numbered so catch him while you can.

This mighty parliament building is at the heart of the country’s political life playing hosts to the most important administrative and ceremonial functions of both the People’s Republic of China and the Communist Party of China (although the two are often indistinguishable in New China).

The Great Hall of the People (daily 9am-3pm, ¥30) was built in 1959 as one of the Ten Great Construction erected to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Communist revolution. The 46.5m high building covers 171,800m2 and was completed by volunteers in just 10 months after the original Russian designers left following deteriorations in Sino-Soviet relations. The imposing edifice flanks much of the western-side of Tian’anmen Square and is mirrored on the eastern-side by the equally imposing National Museum of China. Ringed by trigged security the public access is on the southeast corner of the complex where you must buy your ticket and stow your bag.

The pre-designated tour route leads up the staircase through the huge main entrance conveying the appropriate feeling of state oppression. From here you wander into the ornate but tacky entrance hall that seems to be trying to recapture the feel of a great Tsarist palace on the cheap. The highlight of the tour is the 10,000-seat Great Auditorium which play host to the annual Liang Hui performance by the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (SCPCC) and the National People's Congress (NPS) and where once every 5 years the Communist Party of China (CPC) puts on its National Congress show, during which time the building is closed to visitors. Look out for the wonderfully tacky red Plexiglas 5-pointed star on the ceiling that illuminates the massive room.

Next up lies the Stalinist austerity of the State Banquet Hall where former U.S. President and sometime petty crook Richard M. Nixon dined during his infamous 1972 state visit. Beyond this is a selection of the 29 reception rooms decorated in the style of different provinces. The overblown grandeur of the Beijing Suite, the 70s style of the Shanghai Suite, the school cafeteria feel of the Guangdong Suite and the dusty abandonment of the Sichuan Suite are all currently on view but sadly the Taiwan Suite isn’t. From here you find yourself back in the familiar faux-opulence of the entrance hall where you can kick back for a while on one of the fake brown leather comfy-chairs that line the wall and enjoy a beverage from the curiously out of place Coca-Cola vending machine.

Altogether a somewhat oppressive little experience that is well worth a shot if you have an hour or so to waste in the square.

The mighty Qianmen guards the Southern side of Tian’anmen Square and was once open only to the Emperor himself on his way to and from the winter solstice ceremony at the Temple of Heaven or his inspection tours of the southern regions.

This magnificent structure dates from 1419 during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 CE) and was one of the original nine gates that were built into the great defensive wall that separated the inner city of the ruling class from the outer city of the common Han Chinese people beyond. The gate was badly damaged during the Boxer Rebellion (1900-01 CE) only to rise up again in 1914. Following the Communist revolution of 1949 it was occupied by the Beijing garrison of the People’s Liberation Army who finally vacated in 1980.

Approaching from the south the first structure you see is the impressive brick outer-defences of the Jian Lou (Arrow Tower). In 1928 this tower became home to the Peking National Goods Exhibition Hall but it is now closed to the public. The tower was originally connected to the main defences by a great encircling wall that was swept away along with the two flanking temples 1967. Beyond stands the magnificent Zhengyang Men gatehouse. At 42m high this is the largest of the original nine gatehouses of the inner city. Qianmen is the only city gate to survive with both its gatehouse and arrow tower intact.

Zhengyang Men (daily 8.30am-4pm, ¥10) is now open to the public. The first floor contains a small photographic display on the ancient inner city and it’s defences, which the gate once played an integral part of. The second floor contains a detailed photographic display on the importance of trade and commerce in the Qianmen district that flourished to the south of the gate. The third floor houses visiting displays on a variety of cultural and commercial subjects. The fourth floor is given over to a jumble of souvenir shops and unfortunately doesn’t open up for views over Tian’anmen Square.

Qianmen is a somewhat prominent landmark that you are bound to notice during your travels around the city so what not spare an hour to drop by and learn a little bit about the best preserved of Beijing’s once numerous city gates.

Indelibly seared into the minds of the world by the events of 1989, this mighty square has reaffirmed its position as the spiritual heart of New China.

The iconic image of a benign looking Chairman Mao gazes over the square from its head at Tian’anmen, the great gate to the Forbidden City, after which it's named. The gate once looked out over imperial ministries but these were razed in the Boxer Rebellion (1899-01 CE) leaving this public square. It immediately became a magnet for protesters and on May 4th 1919 over 3,000 students gathered here to oppose government appeasement of foreign imperialists. They were brutally suppressed with one student killed. The resulting May Fourth Movement contributed to the birth of the Communist Party of China (CPC) that later swept to power.

It was here on October 1st 1949 that Mao issued the proclamation of the People's Republic of China. The enlargement of the square that followed swept away the symbolic Gate of China and at 440,000m2 created the largest public square in the world as showground for the annual National Day rallies. In the center stands the 38m high great granite Monument to the People's Heroes inscribed with Mao’s message "Eternal glory to the people's heroes!" and featuring reliefs of the struggle from the burning of the opium in 1839 to the PLA’s crossing of the Yangtze River in 1949. The tenth anniversary in 1959 saw that construction of the twin flanking buildings of the Great Hall of the People and the National Museum.

Further popular gatherings followed the death of the ever-popular Premiere Zhou Enlai (1898-1976). On April 5th 1976 the reviled Gang of Four, defacto rulers of the country, brutally dispersed the mourners leaving thousands dead or injured. Mao’s own death later that year and the subsequent arrest of the four went someway to appeasing the masses who new leader Hua Guofeng put to work constructing the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall as an obvious distraction. The resulting monolithic grey block was plumped down at the foot of the square destroying any magnificence (not to mention feng shui) it may once have possessed.

The square achieved international infamy when tanks rolled in to crush the Student Protests of 1989 with thousands killed and injured in the streets west of here as they fled. Practitioners of the outlawed Falun Gong also stage demos here including the self-immolations of 2001. The square is therefore under rigid security with numerous police, PLA troops and undercover agents patrolling and CCTV in abundance. Although none of this is targeted at the tourists it does none-the-less create something of an oppressive atmosphere that is only intensified by the great cloud of smog that permanently hangs overhead.

The square, due to its size and central location, is quite literally unmissable but with little to actually see even on the rare occasion the smog clears and a general feeling of unease there is little reason to hang around.