Monument to the People’s Heroes


In the centre of Tian'anmen Sq rises the 40m-high Monument to the People’s Heroes, an obelisk of Qingdao granite completed in 1958 (though it was commissioned in 1949). On its sides are bas-relief carvings of patriotic and revolutionary events – mostly those depicting the struggle against foreign humiliations since the Opium Wars. An inscription in Mao's calligraphy reads: 'The people's heroes will be remembered eternally'.

During the 1989 Tian'anmen pro-democracy demonstrations, it served as ground zero for the student protesters.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Tian'anmen Square

0.05 MILES

Flanked by triumphalist Soviet-style buildings, Tian'anmen Sq is an immense void of paved stone (440,000 sq metres, to be precise) at the symbolic centre…

2. Chairman Mao Memorial Hall

0.15 MILES

One of Beijing's more surreal spectacles is the sight of Mao Zedong's embalmed corpse on public display within his mausoleum. The Soviet-inspired memorial…

3. Great Hall of the People

0.21 MILES

Monolithic and intimidating, the Stalinist Great Hall of the People (1959) houses the highest organ of state power, the National People’s Congress (NPC)…

4. National Museum of China

0.21 MILES

Vast and energy-sapping, China's showpiece museum is housed in an immense 1950s Soviet-style building on the eastern side of Tian'anmen Sq, and claims to…

5. Zhengyang Gate

0.28 MILES

Qianmen (前门), or the Front Gate, consists of a pair of gate-like towers, the northernmost being the 40m-high Zhengyang Gate, which was also the largest of…

6. Gate of Heavenly Peace

0.28 MILES

Instantly recognisable by its giant framed portrait of Mao, and guarded by two pairs of Ming dynasty stone lions, the double-eaved Gate of Heavenly Peace …

7. Qiánmén

0.29 MILES

Qianmen, aka 'Front Gate', consists of a pair of gate-like structures: the northernmost is the 40m-high Zhengyang Gate, which dates from the Ming dynasty…

8. Former Dutch Legation

0.35 MILES

A green-roofed building rises behind a wall at No 40, which was once the Dutch Legation. To the north, a faded street sign reads 'USSR Embassy Compound…