Tiananmen, the massive public square in the center of Beijing, is infamously the site of the June 3/June 4, 1989 massacre of unarmed protesters by Chinese security forces. But it also is in some ways the symbolic heart of the city: It is located around the corner from the walled compound Zhongnanhai, where China's top party elite live and work, and across from the Forbidden City, the massive palace museum that previously housed the emperor.
Since the Communist took power in 1949 -- Chairman Mao Zedong stood on a gate across from Tiananmen Square and famously proclaimed the establishment of the People's Republic of China by saying "the Chinese people have stood up," -- the square has hosted countless parades, marches, mass mournings, mass rallies, as well as many acts of protest, large and small. Here are photos of Tiananmen, from 1976 to today.
In the photo above, a Chinese military policeman patrolling Tiananmen Square keeps a lookout for Falun Gong members on Feb. 6, 2000, a day after police cracked down on protesting Falun Gong members.
Stephen Shaver/AFP/Getty Images
Pro-democracy demonstrators sit in front of soldiers standing guard outside the Chinese Communist Party's headquarters, days before the bloody crackdown on students and protesters in and around Tiananmen Square. On FP's Shadow Government blog, Will Inboden covered the legacy of the Tiananmen Square crackdown in his piece, "Tiananmen at 25."
Peter Charlesworth/LightRocket via Getty Images
People's Liberation Army soldiers wait outside the Great Hall of the People in Tiananmen Square before attending a function inside, on April 15, 2005. In March, FP's Isaac Stone Fish explored the opaque spending practices of the PLA in "The Black Box of China's Military."
Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images
A plainclothes policeman stands under an umbrella to avoid the sun as he keeps watch for suspicious activity on the fifth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, on June 4, 1994. Zhang Jialong covered Chinese censorship of this year's 25th anniversary for Tea Leaf Nation, in "Let's Talk About Tiananmen."
Manuel Ceneta/AFP/Getty Images
A father and child stand in front of the Gate of Heavenly Peace in Tiananmen Square, in October 1997.
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Chinese police stand guard at Tiananmen Square, on Oct. 1, 2005.
Guang Niu/Getty Images
A paramilitary policeman reacts outside the opening session of the Chinese Communist Party's five-yearly Congress at the Great Hall of the People, on Nov. 8, 2012. Kathleen McLaughlin provided day-by-day analysis of the 2012 Congress in an FP dispatch titled, "Party Congress Diary."
Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images
A guard stands outside the Tiananmen Gate on Nov. 10, 2012, days before Xi Jinping was elected General Secretary of the Communist Party. Foreign Policy profiled Xi in October 2012, "The Creation Myth of Xi Jinping."
Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images
A young woman in Tiananmen Square mourns the death of Zhou Enlai, in January 1976.
Liaison
U.S. President Ronald Reagan and President Li of the People's Republic of China stand in front of the Great Hall of the People in 1984.
David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images
Chinese youth show off their soccer skills during a demonstration in Tiananmen Square on Oct. 25, 2003.
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A photographer takes pictures of hostesses in Tiananmen Square during the closing ceremony of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), on March 12, 2009. FP covered the media storm surrounding this year's CPPCC in the "Sound, Fury, and Hot Air."
Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images
People's Liberation Army flag-bearers march in front of the Monument to the People's Heroes, a memorial to China's revolutionaries, on Tiananmen Square, on June 2, 2005. John Garnaut looks at corruption within the PLA in his 2012 piece "Rotting From Within."
Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images
Hostesses on Tiananmen Square hold placards as delegates leave the opening session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference at the Great Hall of the People, on March 3, 2011.
Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images
A policeman does a security check with his sniffer dog outside the Great Hall of the People before the opening ceremony of the National People's Congress, on March 5, 2006.
Cancan Chu/Getty Images
Fans cheer outside The National Museum of China at Tiananmen Square during the Opening Ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics on Aug. 8, 2008. Read Phelim Kine's piece on the lost promise of the 2008 games in FP's "Beijing's Real Olympic Hero."
Al Bello/Getty Images
A mother carries her child waving Chinese flags near Tiananmen Square, on Feb. 28, 2005.
PETER PARKS/AFP/Getty Images
Fireworks explode in the sky over the Monument to the People's Heroes during celebrations marking the opening of the 2008 Beijing Olympics Games, on Aug. 8, 2008.
MARTIN BUREAU/AFP/Getty Images
Fans cheer as artist Jean Michel Jarre performs during his concert in Tiananmen Square for the official launch of the "Year of France" festival, on Oct. 10, 2004. Tea Leaf Nation contributor Warren Brown writes about the shiny appeal of Western culture in China in "Captain America, Captain China."
Photo by Getty Images
On Oct. 15, 1998, ten thousand martial artists put on the first martial arts display allowed in Tiananmen Square since the Communist Party assumed power in 1949.
GOH CHAI HIN/AFP/Getty Images
A Chinese tourist walks on Tiananmen Square during a sandstorm, on March 9, 2013.
Photo by Feng Li/Getty Images
Military soldiers guarding the Great Hall of the People take part in training exercises, on July 19, 2005.
Photo by China Photos/Getty Images
A man walks in Tiananmen Square as heavy smog and fog limit visibility, on Dec. 3, 2004. Gal Luft looks at China's growing environmental concerns in "China's Pollution Revolution."
PETER PARKS/AFP/Getty Images
Two elderly soldiers greet each other on the eve of National Day on Sept. 29, 2008, to celebrate the 59th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
PETER PARKS/AFP/Getty Images
Chinese People's Liberation Army naval officers march pass Tiananmen Square during the National Day parade in Beijing on Oct. 1, 2009, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. The Naval War College's James Holmes assessed the strength of China's navy for FP in "Red Tide."
ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images
People's Liberation Army soldiers stationed inside the Forbidden City sweep snow from the bridge leading into the entrance to Tiananmen Gate, Jan. 8, 1993.
MIKE FIALA/AFP/Getty Images
Chinese police march in Tiananmen Square during the opening ceremony of the National People's Congress, on March 5, 2006.
Cancan Chu/Getty Images
A pro-democracy demonstrator gives the victory sign to soldiers standing guard outside the Chinese Communist Party's headquarters, days before the crackdown on students and protesters in and around Tiananmen Square.
Peter Charlesworth/LightRocket via Getty Images
