Tiananmen Square

The Tiananmen Square lies at the cross-section between the central axis of Beijing. When it was first built in the 15th year of Yongle (1417), it was called Chengtian Gate. It was twice destroyed in the Ming Dynasty, once by lightning, once by war. In 1651, or the 8th year of Emperor Shunzhi’s reign in the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Fulin had it rebuilt and changed its name to Tiananmen.

Tiananmen Square was formerly a courtyard in front of the main gate to the Forbidden City. At that time it measured about 110,000 square meters. In modern times it has been renovated and expanded many times. Now, the square is 880 meters long and 500 meters wide, measuring 440,000 square meters.

Along with Tiananmen Gate, many national symbols such as the Great Hall of the People, the National Museum, and the Monument to the People’s Heroes are located here. Various large-scale celebrations are also held here. Every morning, the flag-raising ceremony attracts countless tourists.

Watch the flag raising ceremony

The flag ceremony of the Tiananmen Square is divided into a festival flag-raising ceremony and a flag-raising ceremony.

The annual flag-raising ceremony will be held on New Year’s Day, Spring Festival, International Labor Day, National Day and 1st of each month. The festival flag-raising ceremony was carried out by 38 armed police corps and 62 military orchestras. When they marched, they played “Singing the Motherland” and played the National Anthem when they raised the flag. The other time is the flag-raising ceremony on weekdays. The flag-raising ceremony on weekdays was carried out by 38 national flag guards, and the national anthem was recorded when the flag was raised.

The flag-raising ceremony was performed by the National Flag Guard alone, without music.

Flag Raising Time

The rising (lower) flag ceremony varies with the sunrise time of each day. The specific flag raising time can be viewed on the official website of Tiananmen Management Committee: tiananmen.org.cn

Main Attractions

The center of the square stands the Monument to the People’s Heroes and the solemn Chairman Mao Memorial Hall. On the west side of the square is the Great Hall of the People, on the east is the National Museum of China, and on the south side are two ancient cities with hundreds of years of history. Buildings – Zhengyangmen and Qianmenjianlou, these majestic buildings together with Tiananmen Square constitute the current Tiananmen Square.

The present Tiananmen Square is the place where the Republic holds major celebrations, grand gatherings and foreign affairs. Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Tiananmen Square has experienced many military parades and witnessed the rise and rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Special Note
1. The security check at Tiananmen Square is very strict, and knives, sharp objects, etc. may be prohibited from being brought in. In addition, the security check queue may be longer, if you do not bring the package, the entry speed will be faster. 2. There are a lot of tourists who come to the flag-raising ceremony every morning. If you want to occupy the front row, you must get up early.

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