Tiananmen Square in Beijing

By alantvuong on July 23, 2020

On my first ever trip to Asia as a wheelchair user, me and 2 buddies decided to go to Beijing in September 2011 to visit The Great Wall of China and get a culture shock of Asian culture. This was all our first times in Asia and we all just wanted to check out all the main tourist attractions of Beijing. On our 2nd full day in Beijing, we visited the famous and important Tiananmen Square.

having some food before we start our day

Getting There

Me and my friends were staying at Tiantan Hotel and before taking a 20 minute taxi to Tiananmen Square. We ate at a small local little restaurant near our hotel and just ordered some stir fry and noodles. It was always a challenge trying to order food because of the language barrier. There are also many times in Beijing when trying to get a taxi, the driver drives by us and ignores us because they don’t want to bother with the hassle of me being transferred in a taxi by my friends.

taking a regular taxi

About Tiananmen Square

Tiananmen Square is a city square and is located in the center of Beijing. It is named after the Tiananmen which means “Gate of Heavenly Peace” which separates it from the Forbidden City. Within the square, there is the Monument to the People’s Heroes, the Great Hall of the People, the National Museum of China and the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong. Tiananmen Square is one of the biggest city squares in the world and is known for the Tiananmen Square Massacre that happened in 1989.

Tiananmen gate (North)

The Square

After we did get a taxi and arriving to Tiananmen Square, we noticed it wasn’t as busy as we thought. There was no fee or ticket required to enter the square, the National Museum or the Mausoleum, and a nominal fee to visit the Gate of Heavenly Peace and the Great Hall.

map of Tiananmen Square

It was great learning and reading the information signs about Tiananmen Square and it got busier as time went on. We took pics in front of the Tiananmen gate to the north of Tiananmen Square, where there was also a giant red lantern in front of it. The Monument in front of Mao’s Mausoleum was also a great sight to see.

red lantern

Monument to the People’s Heroes

National Museum of China

The National Museum of China is located on the east side of the square and as previously mentioned was free to enter except a few seasonal exhibits required a paid ticket. We also had to bring our passports as proof of identity which we knew beforehand. It opened in 2003 after Museum of the Chinese Revolution and the National Museum of Chinese History merged into one big museum.

this museum has 5 floors with 48 exhibits

The museum covers Chinese history from the Yuanmou Man of 1.7 million years ago to the end of the Qing Dynasty. There are over 1 million pieces at the National Museum of China with some artifacts that are really unique and rare that they couldn’t be found anywhere else in this world.

replica boat

Just like the square itself, the museum was quite wheelchair accessible. There are elevators as this museum has 5 floors that include 48 exhibits. We didn’t get a chance to see everything as this place was just too massive or we would end up spending half a day here. We did enjoy what we saw and had fun taking pictures though.

rare vase

Tiananmen Square is an important landmark and has great cultural significance in Chinese history that it is definitely worth visiting. It is free to visit except a few areas that require a small fee so it won’t hurt the wallet to see. With great accessibility and a great location, you can see why this place is quite popular with tourists.