Experts' Choice Award Tiananmen Square (Tiananmen Guangchang)
What the experts agree on
The world's largest public square, Tiananmen Square is a vast concrete expanse dominated by Mao's portrait and embodying Communist China's founding vision. Capable of holding a million people, it's monumental rather than charming—a symbol of absolute
“This vast concrete expanse (it covers more than a hundred acres) is dominated by an unsmiling portrait of Chairman Mao.”
– Concierge
Fodor's "The world's largest public square, and the very heart of modern China, Tiananmen Square owes little to grand imperial designs and everything to Mao Zedong." Full review
Travel + Leisure "Capable of holding a million people, the 100-acre Tiananmen is the world’s largest public square." Full review
Michelin Guide 2 Stars
"The affirmation of absolute power is embodied in this 20ha esplanade, a megalomaniac creation of Mao, whose portrait still features as a backdrop."
i
Today, soldiers still parade every morning and evening.
Afar Magazine "The world's seventh-largest public square is best known in the West for the 1989 student protests, but this is also where, on October 1, 1949, Mao Zedong founded the People's Republic of China." Full review
U.S. News & World Report6.0
"Up there with Times Square, Red Square and St&*& Peter's Square, Tiananmen Square is among the world's most famous public spaces. Almost anyone can recognize the Gate of Heavenly Peace..." Full review
i
The square is the geographic, political and tourist center of the city, which makes it unavoidable.
