Tiananmen Square - Events, Images from near and in the square

The largest public square in the world, covering 40 ha/98 acres and lying S of the Ming Tiananmen (‘Gate of Heavenly Peace’) leading into the Forbidden City in C Beijing. It has long been the venue of mass manifestations (eg in the May Fourth Movement, 1919) and it was here that the People's Republic was proclaimed in September 1949. In 1966, during the Cultural Revolution, Mao Zedong addressed rallies of over a million Red Guards in the square. In June 1989, it was the scene of mass protests by students and others against the Chinese government, crushed by troops of the Chinese Army with an undisclosed number of dead. To the S stands a 36 m/120 ft marble monument to the People's Heroes.

For the 1989 protest, see Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.

Tiananmen Square (Simplified Chinese: 天安门广场; Outside of China, the square is best known for the Tiananmen Square Massacre.

The square is 880 metres south to north and 500 metres east to west, a total area of 440,000 square meters, which makes it the largest open-urban square in the world.

Near the centre of today's square, close to the site of the Mao Zedong Mausoleum, once stood one of the most important gates of Beijing. This gate was known as the "Great Ming Gate" (大明门) during the Ming Dynasty, "Great Qing Gate" (大清门) during the Qing Dynasty, and "Gate of China" (中华门) during the Republic of China era.

In the early 1950s, China Gate (as it was then known) was demolished along with the Chessgrid Streets to the south, completing the expansion of Tiananmen Square to (approximately) its current size. The square lies between two ancient, massive gates: the Tian'anmen to the north and the Zhengyangmen, better known as Qianmen (Simplified Chinese: 前门; Trees line the east and west edges of the Square, but the square itself is open, with neither trees nor benches.

The Square is lit with huge lampposts which also sport video cameras.

Events

Tiananmen Square has been the site of a number of political events such as the proclamation of the People's Republic of China by Mao Zedong in October 1, 1949 and for mass rallies during the Cultural Revolution.

The protests of 1989 resulted in the killing of Chinese protestors in the streets to the west of the square and adjacent areas. Some Western reporters who were on the square during the unfolding events reported that they saw no one actually die on the square itself, though did see bloodied people but could not confirm whether they were either dead or injured (Graham Earnshaw and Columbia Journal Review).

Images from near and in the square

Railway station	Zhengyangmen gate	Mausoleum of Mao Zedong	Monument in front of Mao's Mausoleum on Tiananmen Square
Monument to the People's Heroes and the Great Hall of the People	Tiananmen gate to the Forbidden City with reviewing stands in front	Iconic image of the Tiananmen Square from the May Fourth movement of 1919	Overview of the Tiananmen Square