Tiananmen Square (天安門廣場 lit. "The Square of the Gate of Heavenly Peace"; Pinyin Tian'anmén Guangchang) is a large paved public plaza near the center of Beijing, China in front of the Forbidden City.
Enlarged in 1949 to 100 acres, its flatness is broken only by the 100 foot high Monument to the People's Heroes[?] and Mao Zedong's mausoleum. It is lit with huge lamposts which also sport video cameras. The Great Hall of the People[?] is on the western side of the Square. Qianmen (Front Gate) is on the south side of the Square. National Museum of Chinese History is on the east side of the Square. Changan Avenue, which is used for parades, lies between Tiananmen Gate and the Square. Much part of the Square is open space with no trees or benches. Trees line the east and west edges of the Square. It is heavily monitored by uniformed and plainclothes policemen.
Tiananmen Square has been the site of a number of political protests most notably the May Fourth Movement of 1919 for science and democracy, protests in 1975 after the death of Zhou Enlai, and the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.
External Link
- National Museum of Chinese History (http://www.nmch.gov.cn/)