Tiananmen Square is a large
city square in the centre of
Beijing,
China, named after the
Tiananmen gate (
Gate of Heavenly Peace) located to its North, separating it from the
Forbidden City. The square contains the monuments to the heroes of the revolution, the great hall of people, the National Museum of China, and the Chairman Mao Zedong Memorial Hall (with Mao's embalmed body). Mao Zedong proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic in the square on Oct. 1, 1949, an anniversary still observed there. Tiananmen Square is within the top ten
largest city squares in the world (440,500 m
2 – 880×500 m or 109
acres – 960×550 yd). It has great cultural significance as it was the site of several important events in Chinese history.