The daily ceremony of raising and lowering the Chinese flag is just one of the spectacles of the huge Tiananmen Square. Tiananmen means Gate of Heavenly Peace and the square – infamous for civil unrest in 1989 – sits proudly in front of the Forbidden City in central Beijing. It is surrounded by government offices and has within its open space Chairmen Mao’s Mausoleum (the Mao Zedong Memorial Hall), Tiananmen Tower, Monument to the People's Heroes, Great Hall of the People and, of course, the famous flag.

Tiananmen Tower stands at the north end of the square and dates from 1417 during the Ming Dynasty. The most important use of it in the past was to declare the new emperor and empress to the people and until 1911 when the Qing Dynasty ended no one could enter the Tower except for the royal family and aristocrats.

The granite Monument to the People's Heroes lies at the centre of Tiananmen Square and is the largest monument in China. West of the Square is the Great Hall of the People, built in 1959 and the seat of government (the China National People's Congress).

The Mao Zedong Memorial Hall stands in the south of the square. Mao’s body lies in a crystal coffin in one of 3 halls.

The raising of the flag ceremony and lowering each day is a spectacle not to be missed and each evening you can simply walk in the square and meet local people – a great way to end a day in the capital.