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Covering more than forty hectares, Tian'anmen Square must rank as the greatest public square on earth. It's a modern creation, in a city that traditionally had no squares, as classical Chinese town planning did not allow for places where crowds could gather. Tian'anmen only came into being when imperial offices were cleared from either side of the great processional way that led south from the palace to Qianmen and the Temple of Heaven. The ancient north-south axis of the city was thus destroyed and the broad east-west thoroughfare, Chang'an Jie, that now carries millions of cyclists every day past the front of the Forbidden City, had the walls across its path removed. In the words of one of the architects: "The very map of Beijing was a reflection of the feudal society, it was meant to demonstrate the power of the emperor. We had to transform it, we had to make Beijing into the capital of socialist China." The easiest approach to the square is from the south, where there's a bus terminus and a subway stop. As the square is lined with railings (for crowd control) you can enter or leave only via the exits at either end or in the middle. Bicycles are not permitted, and the streets either side are one way; the street on the east side is for traffic going south, the west side for northbound traffic. The square has been the stage for many of the epoch-making mass movements of twentieth-century China: the first calls for democracy and liberalism by the students of May 4, 1919, demonstrating against the Treaty of Versailles; the anti-Japanese protests of December 9, 1935, demanding a war of national resistance; the eight stage-managed rallies that kicked off the Cultural Revolution in 1966, when up to a million Red Guards at a time were ferried to Beijing to be exhorted into action and then shipped out again to shake up the provinces; and the brutally repressed Qing Ming demonstration of April 1976, in memory of Zhou Enlai, that first pointed towards the eventual fall of the Gang of Four. But the square is best-known to contemporary visitors for the horrific events of 1989, when students and workers peacefully protesting for democracy were savagely suppressed. At the time of writing the square was closed, being repaved in time for the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic. Of all places in Beijing it was probably the least in need of renovation. The fact that the building work meant the square was temporarily out of bounds during the tenth anniversary of the Tian'anmen uprising was probably no coincidence. Tian'anmen Square unquestionably makes a strong impression, but this concrete plain dotted with worthy statuary and bounded by monumental buildings can seem inhuman. Together with the bloody associations it has for many visitors it often leaves people cold, especially Westerners unused to such magisterial representations of political power. For many Chinese tourists though, the square is a place of pilgrimage . Crowds flock to see the corpse of Chairman Mao, others quietly bow their heads before the Monument to the Heroes , a thirty-metre-high obelisk commemorating the victims of the revolutionary struggle. A huge digital display outside the entrance to the two museums is a popular place for a photo. The display used to count down the seconds to the moment when Hong Kong reverted to Chinese control; at the time of writing it counts down the seconds till Macau rejoins the motherland. No doubt another auspicious date will have been found by the time you read this. Among the visitors is the occasional monk, and the sight of robed Buddhists standing in front of the uniformed sentries outside the Great Hall of the People makes a striking juxtaposition. Others come just to hang out or to fly kites, but the atmosphere is not relaxed and a Y5 fine for spitting and littering is rigorously enforced. At dawn, the flag at the northern end of the square is raised in a military ceremony and lowered again at dusk, which is when most people come to see it. After dark, the square is at its most appealing and, with its sternness softened by mellow lighting, it becomes the haunt of strolling families and lovers.
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