Tian’anmen Square (the Square of Heavenly Peace) is the world’s largest inner-city square, designed to hold a million people and built to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Chinese Republic in 1958. Considered the center of communist China, the square’s symbolic importance dates back to May 4th, 1919, when students demonstrated against the Chinese provisions of the Treaty of Versailles.
Highlights include the Monument to the People’s Heroes (Rnmn Y«ngxióng Jni nbi), a 38-meter tall obelisk consisting of 17,000 pieces of granite and marble, and the splendid Tian’anmen Gate – the Gate of Heavenly Peace – completed in 1417 and once the main entrance to the Imperial City.