Tiananmen Square (天安门广场; Tiān'ānmén Guǎngchǎng) in Beijing is the largest city square in the world. Tiananmen literally means Gate of Heavenly Peace and the square adopted the name its northern gate, originally built in 1417 during the Ming Dynasty, which leads into the Forbidden City. Here are some photos I took during a visit in June, 2010 as part of Belmont University's summer study abroad program in China.
Tiananmen is one of Beijing's main tourist attractions
The Tiananmen gate was severely damaged during battles toward the end of the Ming Dynasty when the invading Manchus took over to establish the Qing Dynasty. The square was originally built in 1651 and has since been enlarged to 4 times its original size.
Belmont Summer Study Abroad group at Tiananmen Square (entrance to Forbidden City in background)
3 Belmont students at Tiananmen Square
People standing in a long line to enter the Mao Mausoleum
Tiananmen Square is also the site of the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall (毛主席纪念堂; Máo Zhǔxí Jìniàntáng), also known as the Mao Mausoleum, where Mao Zedong's embalmed body is brought out on display for the crowds of mostly Chinese visitors. The National Museum of China is also located at Tiananmen Square. While the square has functioned as a public meeting place since its inception, it is mostly remembered by Westerners 
as the site of public demonstrations and government crackdown in 1989.Search Amazon.com for tiananmen square
Posts
