Tiananmen Square is directly south of the Imperial Palace (Palace Museum, Forbidden City) is at the center of Beijing. This north-south rectangle is the largest public square in the world, measuring 865 meters in length from north to south and 500 and 370 meters in width from east to west at the northern and southern ends. The total area is some 93 acres and can accommodate more than 500,000 people, as it has done on several occasions.

This was the site of the May 4th demonstrations in 1919 against the Treaty of Versailles, December 9th anti-Japanese protests in 1935, the declaration of the Peoples Republic of China in 1949, the rallies launching the Cultural Revolution in 1966, the observation of the deaths of Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai in 1976, and the student protests and subsequent violent repression of 1989. In addition, military parades are held in the square on each 5th year anniversary of the founding of the Peoples Republic of China. The largest of these occurred on October 1, 1999 at the 50th anniversary celebration.


Looking South from the Tiananmen Gate's Rostrum

Tiananmen Square was not always so large. In the era of the Chinese Emperors, the city planners did not allow public squares. (They were considered dangerous as places where crowds could gather.) Imperial use of the square was as for clerical work (by Mandarins) associated with copying and disseminating Imperial edicts. Enlargement of the square to its present form was a modern decision initiated by Mao Zedong. In 1949, the year the Peoples Republic of China was founded, major renovation work began at Tiananmen Square. Three subsequent renovation projects in 1958, 1976 and 1981 have transformed the square into its present form.

The square is surrounded by China's major governmental and national structures as detailed in the following posts.