Tiananmen Square Facts
Tiananmen Square Facts
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| Interesting Tiananmen Square Facts: |
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| Tiananmen Square was named after the Tiananmen Gate, built in 1415 as a gate in the wall of the Imperial City during the Ming Dynasty. The gate was damaged toward the end of the Ming Dynasty's rule. |
| Until 1954 Tiananmen Square has a gate in its center called the Gate of China. It was demolished to make the square larger. |
| Tiananmen Square contains the Great Hall of the People, the Monument to the People's Heroes, the National Museum of China, and the Chairman Mao Zedong Memorial Hall. |
| The Great Hall of the People in Tiananmen Square is host to the annual National People's Congress meetings. It has more than 10,000 seats in the meeting hall and 5,000 more in the banquet hall. |
| The May Fourth Movement held protests at Tiananmen Square in 1919. This movement was a cultural, political, and anti-imperialist movement that protested the government's weak behaviour, such as giving Japan territories surrendered by Germany in the Treaty of Versailles. |
| Mao Zedong, who is embalmed in his memorial hall in Tiananmen Square, founded the People's Republic of China on October 1st, 1949, in the square. |
| For ten years, beginning in 1949, on the anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China there were large military displays at Tiananmen Square. |
| In 1976 protests were held at Tiananmen Square after the Premier Zhou Enlai died. |
| In 1989 protests at Tiananmen Square by students who demanded democratic reform became violent when the government and the military went in with tanks and soldiers and killed thousands of people. |
| Although the protest in 1989 was originally started by students, more than one million people were there in support by the time the military intervened and stared killing the people in the square. |
| After the Tiananmen Square events in 1989 the General Secretary, who sympathized with the protestors, lost his job. |
| Tiananmen Square is open to the public, but prior to being allowed entry people are searched to ensure safety. Chinese residents are often asked why they are visiting Tiananmen Square when they wish to gain entry. |
| There are many fire extinguishers at Tiananmen Square to help stop protestors from setting themselves on fire (self-immolation). |
| Kite flying is very popular at Tiananmen Square and vendors are there to sell kites to people who do not bring their own. |
| Tiananmen Square has large lampposts which serve as sources of light. They also hold video cameras to allow for close monitoring of the large area by police. |
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