Great Hall of the People (Renmin Dahuitang)
Located in downtown Beijing and flanking the western side of Tian'anmen Square, the landmark Great Hall of the People, which houses the National People’s Congress, was dubbed the "luxurious parlor of the people" by late chairman Mao Zedong. Built in 1959, the hall has a total building area of 170,000 square meters, which is larger than that of its neighbor the Forbidden City. The whole construction of the building only took 10 months to complete.
The name of the hall, the Great Hall of the People, came about after construction was completed, following advice given by renowned Chinese bridge architect Mao Yisheng. The largest meeting room in the hall offers 10,000 seats, and its largest banquet hall can serve 5,000 guests at any one time. In addition, more than 300 other rooms are available for meetings, leisure or office purposes.
Statistics show that the hall has already hosted more than 3,000 meetings and various important activities, including the annual plenary sessions of the National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).
On the western side of the square, this monumental building may usually be visited on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings, however, visits cannot be made when party or state meetings (which naturally take precedence) are scheduled. The 16th Communist Party Congress was convened here in November 2003 and National People’s Congresses are held every March.
The magnificent Great Hall of the People is a modern structure in China. It has absorbed both Chinese and foreign architectural influences, and it also presents a distinct national style. Since its inception, the Great Hall has always been the important venue for the Party and the state affairs and diplomatic activities.
The Great Hall of the People is built round a square, very much in the solid ‘revolutionary-heroic’ mould. It is worth going inside where, even if the decor is not to everyone’s taste, the sheer scale of the rooms is breathtaking. From the huge reception room, the Wanren Dalitang (Ten-thousand People Assembly Hall) leads off to the west, the banquet wing to the north, and the offices of the standing committees of the national congress to the south. The Assembly Hall is over 3,000square meters (3,600 square yards), containing more than 9,700 scars on three tiers, all installed with simultaneous interpretation equipment. Overhead, the vaulted ceiling is illuminated by 500 recessed lights radiating outwards from a gleaming red star.
Some 500 guests can sit down to dinner in the banquet room, which is half the size of a football field. Gilded columns and brilliant lighting combine to produce a sumptuous if overwhelming effect. In addition to the formal public rooms, the Great Hall has 32 separate reception rooms, named after each province, provincial-level city and autonomous region of China (including one for Taiwan).
The decision for building the Great Hall of the People was made by the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee in August 1958. Premier Zhou Enlai emphasized the design principle 'The people are the masters of the country'. While he was inspecting the construction site, President Mao Zedong set a high value on the enthusiasm displayed by the builders and gave the name of "The Great Hall of the People'' to this structure.
Deng Xiaoping wrote the inscription for the name of this grand building. The designing and planning involved the most outstanding architects of the country. More than 30,000 people took part in the construction of the Great Hall in groups, among whom there were 7,000 first-rate technicians and workers from 20 provinces. This magnificent structure was completed within a period of ten months from November 1958 to September 1959.
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