Our day started with a visit to an important place that day, we would be seeing the Tiananmen Square supposed to be the largest public square in the world
Initially built in 1417 during the Ming Dynasty, the Square is the front door of the Forbidden City.
It is built on a large scale and extends for 53.31 acres
Used as a venue for mass gatherings since its creation, its vast flatness is contrasted by "Monument to the People's Heroes" and the "Mausoleum of Mao Zedong."
We were surprised to see people forming queues at the entrance to the square, our bags and passports were checked and only then we were allowed to enter
The Tiananmen Gate is also known as "Gate of Heavenly Peace"
In the 17th century, fighting between Li Zicheng’s's rebel forces and the forces of the Qing Dynasty caused heavy damage to the gate.
The gate historically known as the "Great Ming Gate” was renamed "Great Qing Gate" during the Qing dynasty, and the " Gate of China" during the Republican Era and was a purely ceremonial gateway, with three arches
This gate had a special status as the "Gate of the Nation", as can be seen from its successive names.
It normally remained closed, except when the emperor passed through. Commoner traffic was diverted to side gates at the western and eastern ends of the square, respectively.
In 1954, the Gate of China was demolished, for enlargement of the square.
In November 1958, a major expansion of Tiananmen Square started as per the vision of Mao Zedong to make the square the largest and most spectacular in the world and to hold over 500,000 people, this was completed in August 1959.
As a result, many residential buildings and other structures have been demolished.
On southern side, the Monument to the People’s Heroes has been erected.
Great Hall of the People and the National Museum of China were erected on the western and eastern sides of the square
One year after Mao's death, a mausoleum was built near the site of the former Gate of China along the main north–south axis of the square
The square lies between two massive ancient gates, the Tiananmen to the north and the Qianmen to the south.
The Square indeed was extensive and the sun was pouring down his rays relentlessly on us
At the north end of the Square is Tiananmen Tower, its most important use in the past was to announce names of emperor and empress to the common people in a big ceremony
Until 1911 when the last feudal kingdom was over, no one could enter the Tower except for the royal family and aristocrats.
Chang’an avenue which is used for parades, lies between the Tian'anmen and the square.
Trees line the east and west edges of the Square, but the square itself is open, with neither trees nor benches.
The square had large lamp posts fitted with video cameras and the whole atmosphere was highly charged
The granite Monument to the People's Heroes is just at the center of Tiananmen Square. Built in 1952, it is the largest monument in China's history.
‘The People's Heroes are Immortal' written by Chairman Mao is engraved on the monument.
Eight large relief sculptures show the development of Chinese modern history. Two rows of white marble railings enclose the monument
As we were walking along the Square we noticed that the guards were changing, it was done very smartly and we came to know that the soldiers guarding the monument were supposed to stand steady in their positions, without moving even a single muscle, which is a tough task indeed, truly they were in a stand still position as we closely observed
Tiananmen Square has had several political events and student protests happening
Most notable events that have occurred here were protests during the May Fourth Movement in 1919, the proclamation of the People's Republic of China by Mao Zedong, protests in 1916 after death of Zhou Enlai, and the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 after death of Hu Yaobang, which resulted in military suppression and death of several civilian protestors.
Apart from tourists, domestic visitors often have their identification documents checked and the purpose of their visit questioned. Both plain-clothes and uniformed police officers patrol the area. There are numerous fire extinguishers placed in the area to put out flames should a protester attempt self - immolation.
The whole Square had profuse multicolored flowering plants giving us a relief from the solemn air hovering in the Square
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