Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
End of the Mao Era
In Mao's time the geomantic symmetry of Běijīng was radically changed. The north-south
axis of the Ming city was ruined by widening Chang'an Dajie into a 10-lane, east-west
highway. This was used for huge annual military parades or when visiting dignitaries ar-
rived and the population was turned out to cheer them. In the 1950s, the centre was rede-
signed by Soviet architects and modelled on Moscow's Red Square. Three major gates
and many other Ming buildings, including the former government ministries, were demol-
ished, leaving the concrete expanse of Tiān'ānmén Square you see today.
In August and September of 1966, a total of 1772 people were killed in the capital, according
to a report published by the
Beijing Daily
after 1979.
Mao used the square to receive the adulation of the millions of Red Guards who flocked
to Běijīng from 1966 to 1969, but after 1969 Mao exiled the Red Guards, along with 20
million 'educated youth', to the countryside. From 1976 the square became the scene of
massive anti-government protests - when Premier Zhou Enlai died in 1976 the large and
apparently spontaneous protest in the square was quelled by the police. In 1976, Mao him-
self died.
