A square that was designed
Tian'anmen Square is 880 metres north to south and 500 metres east to west, 440,000 square metres of open paving, and by that measure the largest city-centre square in the world. It is not a medieval space that grew. It is a twentieth-century plan, and almost all of it dates from one decision: the enlargement carried out in 1958 for the tenth anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic, when the Great Hall of the People was built on the west side and the national museum - then two museums in one building - on the east, and the Long Corridor gateway between them was removed. The square reached its present dimensions in 1959, and it has been a set piece ever since. This day reads it as one.
Before dawn - the flag raising
We collect you early and take you in for the raising of the national flag, which happens at sunrise. The pole stands between the Monument and the Tiananmen gate; the ceremony is short and the queue forms well before it, which is why the start is what it is. Whether or not the ritual means anything to you, the crowd is worth seeing: the square at dawn is the one time it fills with people who have come from all over the country for exactly this, and your guide will explain what the flag and the timing signify, and how the ceremony has changed in form over the years.
Morning - the square, counter-clockwise
Once the light is up we walk it properly. The Monument to the People's Heroes was completed in April 1958 and stands on the city's central axis, deliberately oriented with its inscribed face to the north so that it can be read from the avenue: five metres of stone with an inscription drafted by Mao Zedong and written out by Zhou Enlai. South of it, the Mao Zedong Memorial Hall was built in 1976 and 1977, its colonnade carried on forty-four granite columns, and it closes the south end of the axis. To the west, the Great Hall of the People; to the east, the National Museum; to the north, the Tiananmen gate itself, first built in 1417 and carrying the national emblem and portrait. We finish at the gate, which can be climbed by ticket.
Lunch
A Peking duck lunch in the city, which is what most travellers feel they have not been to Beijing without.
Afternoon - the southern axis
After lunch we close the day by walking the last stretch of the axis south of the square, to Zhengyangmen - the gate known as Qianmen, with its gate tower and archery tower, the southern gate of the inner city and, in the Ming and Qing, the ceremonial entrance to the imperial city. It is a ten-minute walk from the square and it fixes the geography: the square is not a plaza with monuments around it, it is a segment of a line that runs from the Temple of Heaven in the south to the Drum and Bell Towers in the north, inscribed by UNESCO on 27 July 2024 as the Beijing Central Axis, 7.8 kilometres long with fifteen component elements and a property area of 589 hectares. Then we take you back.
Practical
Entry to the square is free but requires a passport reservation, which your guide arranges; the Memorial Hall, the Great Hall and the National Museum all have their own separate arrangements and opening patterns, and a few are restricted on certain days. Climbing the Tiananmen gate is ticketed separately. The dawn start is a long day for children - we usually suggest either the flag raising or the full walk, not both, for families with young children.
Meals
Lunch
Accommodation
Day programme - no hotel night included.
