Tiananmen Square
One of the world's largest city squares, about 880 m long north to south and able to hold a million people—the core space of Beijing's Central Axis: the founding ceremony of the PRC was held here on October 1, 1949; the Monument to the People's Heroes stands at the center, the Great Hall of the People on the west, and on the east the China...
Visitor info
- Opening hours
- Flag-raising/lowering at sunrise/sunset; Memorial Hall 08:00-12:00 · closed Mon
- Ticket
- Free (reservation required)
Price is indicative — final quote on inquiry.
One of the world's largest city squares, about 880 m long north to south and able to hold a million people—the core space of Beijing's Central Axis: the founding ceremony of the PRC was held here on October 1, 1949; the Monument to the People's Heroes stands at the center, the Great Hall of the People on the west, the National Museum of China on the east, and the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall on the south (queue and check bags to visit). In Ming and Qing times this was the imperial plaza before the Imperial City, later opened up and expanded to today's scale. Each dawn the flag-raising ceremony follows sunrise, and spectators queuing overnight has become a scene of the times; reservation is required to enter the entire square.
Getting there: Metro Line 1, Tiananmen East/West Station
Photos
More in Beijing
- Summer Palace
Kunming Lake, the Long Corridor and Marble Boat of the imperial resort.
- The Forbidden City
The world's largest palace complex, 9,999 rooms of Ming and Qing emperors.
- Mutianyu Great Wall
The restored, less-crowded Great Wall section with a toboggan descent.
- Temple of Heaven
Where emperors prayed for harvest; morning tai chi in the cypress park.
- The Palace Museum (Forbidden City)
Completed in the 18th year of Ming Yongle (1420), the imperial palace where 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties lived and ruled, formerly the Forbidden City: covering 720,000 sq m with over 8,700 rooms, the world's largest and best-preserved wooden palace complex
- Jingshan Park
A small hill park directly facing the Forbidden City's Shenwu Gate, built in the Ming Wanli era from moat-digging earth and palace rubble, formerly Coal Hill: Wanchun Pavilion on the central peak is the high point of Beijing's Central Axis—the only vantage for a panorama of the Forbidden City's golden roofs, looking south to the palace and north to the Bell and Drum Towers