On the west side of Tiananmen Square stands the Great Hall of the People. It is a huge building built in 1959 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the People's Republic of China. This is the meeting place of the National People's Congress, as well as the location of a state banquet for Richard Nixon in 1972.

Moving around to the south of Tiananmen, we come to Mao's mausoleum. On each side of this burial place are statues of the Chinese people, led by the workers, farmers and soldiers. Behind the mausoleum stand an ancient city gate and arrow tower.

This Monument to the People's Heroes stands to the front of Mao's mausoleum, in the center of Tiananmen Square. Scenes of key events leading up to the founding of the People's Republic of China are carved on its base, and its south face bears the words "The people's heroes are immortal" in Mao's handwriting.

The National Museum of China occupies the east side of Tiananmen Square. In front of it, a huge clock has been set up to count down the time until the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. When we took this picture of Lee, there were 1,291 days, 9 hours, 18 minutes and 7 seconds left to wait.

Tiananmen Gate marks the northern end of Tiananmen Square, and the southern entrance into the Imperial Palace area. It opens into a courtyard that you cross before coming to the gate to the Forbidden City itself. In the past, imperial proclamations would be delivered to the people from this gate. Mao's picture hangs on the wall under the place where he announced the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949.

The WuMen is the southern entrance to the Forbidden City. Those who displeased the emperor were taken out of it to their punishment, so if you hear "Out the WuMen!", you are in trouble! It is also called the Meridian gate because its entrance is on the line that runs down the center of the Forbidden City, which the Chinese also considered the Prime Meridian of the world. In the foreground are cannons from different time periods that have protected the Forbidden City.

The Forbidden City is surrounded by a moat, which you can see on the left of this picture. The water from the moat is also diverted through the city, creating a secondary moat inside the wall. Both the inside and outside moats are crossed by five bridges, the center one of which was only used by the emperor. The wall of the Forbidden City is on the right of this picture, and the WuMen is in the distance in the center.

Another line of defence for the Forbidden City were the guard towers in each corner of the wall. They overlooked the moat and watchmen could detect enemies regardless of their route of approach. This is the tower on the southeastern corner.

Copyright 2005, Dr. Lee Williams

Last Modified: 15 February 2005

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