The Great Hall of the People is a state building located at the western edge of Tiananmen Square in Xicheng, Beijing. It is used for legislative and ceremonial activities by the government of the People's Republic of China and the ruling Chinese Communist Party. The People's Great Hall functions as the meeting place for the full sessions of the National People's Congress, the Chinese legislature, which occurs every year during March along with the national session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a political advisory body. It is also the meeting place of the National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, which, since the 12th conference in 1982, has occurred once every five years and the party's Central Committee which meets approximately once a year.
The Great Hall of the People, facing the Monument to the People's Heroes.
The Auditorium of Ten Thousand People
Red flags in the front of the Great Hall of the People.
Façade of the Great Hall of the People at night.
Tiananmen Square or Tian'anmen Square is a city square in the city center of Beijing, China, named after the eponymous Tiananmen located to its north, which separates it from the Forbidden City. The square contains the Monument to the People's Heroes, the Great Hall of the People, the National Museum of China, and the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong. Mao Zedong proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China in the square on October 1, 1949; the anniversary of this event is still observed there. The size of Tiananmen Square is 765 x 282 meters. It has great cultural significance as it was the site of several important events in Chinese history.
Tiananmen Square in 2006
Tiananmen Square in the early 20th century, viewed from Zhengyangmen Gate (Qianmen Gate) with the Gate of China, later removed in 1954 to make room for the present-day Mao Zedong Mausoleum. The "corridor of a thousand steps" is visible (behind the Gate of China) and Tiananmen Gate is in the distance.
Tiananmen Square during the May Fourth movement in 1919
1967 satellite image of Tiananmen Square with the Tian'anmen gate to the north. Further work on the square was carried out in the 1970s to extend the open plaza by demolishing the buildings immediately to the south of the square.
