The Great Hall of the People

The Great Hall of the People (Simplified Chinese: 人民大会堂; Traditional Chinese: 人民大會堂; Pinyin: Rénmín Dàhùitáng) is located at the western edge of Tiananmen Square, Beijing, People's Republic of China, and is used for legislative and ceremonial activities by the People's Republic of China and the Communist Party of China. It is the parliament building in China.

History

Great Hall of the People was built in September 1959, which was one of the "Ten Great Constructions" completed for the 10th Anniversary of the People's Republic. It was built in 10 months by volunteers, which is one of the world's architectural marvels in the architect history. One of the volunteers is Li Ruihuan, who later became the chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Architecture

The Great Hall of the People covers 171, 800 square meters of floor space, with 356 meters in length by 206.5 meters in width. The central part is higher, with the highest part in 46.5 meters, while the two sides are little lower. At the eaves of the main gate, there hangs the national emblem of People's Republic of China.

The construction of Great Hall of People consists of three big sections. The central of Great Hall of People principally includes Great Auditorium, Main Auditorium, Congress Hall(Standing Committee of SCPCC meets in conference), Central Hall, Golden Hall and other main halls. The northern section is State Banquet Hall, Salute State Guest Hall, North Hall, East Hall, West Hall and other magnificent halls also locate in north part. The south part is office building of Standing Committee of People's Congress of China. Each province, special administrative region, autonomous region of China own its hall in the Great Hall, such as Beijing Hall, Hong Kong Hall, and Taiwan Hall. Each hall has its unique characteristics of the province and furnished according to the local style.

The Great Auditorium with volume of 90, 000 cube meters, where government leaders make their speeches and the representatives do much of their business, seats 3,693 in the lower auditorium, 3,515 in the balcony, 2,518 in the gallery and 300 to 500 on the dais. It can simultaneously seat 10,000 representatives. On the central roof, there is a great red star—the center of a national galaxy of lights, decorative pattern of water wave nearby represent folks draw together. The Great Hall of the People is centrally heated and air-conditioned, with modern emergency warning and suppression systems. Its facilities equipped with modern audio-visual and other systems adaptable to a variety of meeting types and sizes. Simultaneous interpretation system is also provided with a language booth.

State Banquet Hall with an area of 7,000 square meters ever entertained 7,000 guests’ party and 5,000 people can dine at one time (as was done on the occasion of Richard Nixon's visit to China in 1972). Smaller gatherings can hold forth in the Main Auditorium, with larger groups having the use of one or more of the conference halls, such as Golden Hall and North Hall, and the smallest assemblies accommodated in one or more of the over 30 conference halls that are named after provinces and regions in China.

Usage

Great Hall of the People is the political hub of Beijing and home of the National People's Congress. Every year, in March, the Great Hall of the People plays host to the liang hui (literally "two meetings" in pinyin) event, where both the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (SCPCC) and the National People's Congress (NPS) meet in sessions lasting for two to three weeks at the Great Auditorium. The Communist Party of China(CPC) also holds its National Congress every five years in Great Hall of the People. This enormous building is open to the public when national conference is not in session, and visitors are shown in a selection of route. In recent years, some non-political conventions and concerts also held in the Great Hall.

Huabiao

Qianmen Gate

The History of Tiananmen Square

The Chairman Mao Memorial Hall

The National Museum of China

The Monument to the People's Heroes