The Chinese National Flag, Emblem and Anthem -- Beijing Destination Guide

The Chinese National Flag, Emblem and Anthem - Beijing Destination Guide


	Home \| Coach Tour \| Private Tour \| Hutong Tour \| China Tour \| Chauffeur Service \| Hotel Booking \| Tailor-made Tour

Beijing General Information

Sight-Seeing in Beijing

Shopping & Market

Food & Cuisine in Beijing

Nightlife in Beijing

Travel Tips

Tour Packages in Beijing

Hotels Reservation

Home

< Great Wall Hiking Tours

< Forbidden City Tours

< Temple of Heaven Tours

< Summer Palace Tours

< Ming Tombs Tours

< Old Hutong Tours

< Panda Beijng Zoo Tours

< Lama Temple Tours

< Small Group Bus Tours

< Beijing Private Tours

< Night Show Tours

< China Join-in Tours

< Beijing Airport Transfer

< Car-Van-Coach Rental

< Xingang Transfer

< Xingang--Beijing Tours

< Shanghai City Tours

< Xi'an City Tours

< Guilin City Tours

The Chinese National Flag, Emblem and Anthem

At the ceremony marking the birth of the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949, our national flag and emblem made their first appearances and we sang our national anthem for the first time. Before the ceremony, a committee was set up to solicit designs for the flag and the emblem. Almost 3000 different designs for the flag and about one thousand for the emblem were submitted. In the end, the committee selected the flag design created by Zeng Liangsong who wasn't even an artist by trade. He was actually the secretary of the Shanghai Modern Economics Agency.

In Mr. Zeng's design, five gold stars rest in the upper left corner of the flag on a red background. The red color stands for the revolution while the gold color of the stars signifies the dawn of a new era over the land. The five stars grouped together symbolize the unity of the Chinese people under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party.

On October 1, 1949, Chairman Mao Zedong raised the new flag over Tian'anmen Square. At three o'clock in the afternoon, with 300,000 people watching, Mao Zedong pressed the button on the flag pole, and the red flag with its five stars ascended over Beijing for the first time. After that first momentous flag-raising ceremony, the job was handed over to two workers from the History Museum. The two would come out in the morning, hoist the flag and then take it down in the evening. In the 1960s some discussion started about how to give the flag more of the attention it deserved. In 1969, soldiers with the Beijing garrison took over the task of raising the flag, and after a few years the honor was passed on to a squad of armed police.

The Chinese National Flag, Emblem and Anthem On December 28, 1982, some new twists were added to the ceremony. On that morning, 96 honor guards raised the flag in two minutes and seven seconds. That is the same amount of time it takes for the sun to rise above the horizon. The number 96 also has some symbolic meaning as the territory of China has 9.6 million square Kms. Even the 56 poles in the balustrade around the base of the flag have a special meaning. They represent the 56 different ethnic nationalities living within China's borders. Besides the daily flag-raising at sunrise and the lowering of the flag at sunset, on the first, eleventh and twenty-first of every month visitors are treated to a grand ceremony. It's quite a show complete with a 60 piece military band.

The Chinese national emblem, which hangs above the entrance to the Great Hall of the People. In the center of the emblem is Tian'anmen or "the Gate of Heavenly Peace". Tian'anmen is the gate which stands at the entrance to the Forbidden City, today's Palace Museum. From the rostrum on top of that gate, Mao Zedong proclaimed the birth of the People's Republic of China in 1949. On the emblem, the gate is illuminated by the five stars from the national flag. As on the flag, the five stars here also symbolize the unity of the Chinese people under the leadership of the Communist Party. Stalks of grain, representing the peasant population, surround the gate. Below it there is a cogwheel, a symbol of the working class.

China's national anthem is "The March of the Volunteers." It has quite an interesting history. The song was originally written in 1935 as the theme song for a film called "Sons and Daughters of the Storm." The words were written by Tian Han, a famous modern writer, and set to music composed by Nie Er, a great revolutionary composer. The song urged people to join the National Resistance Movement against the Japanese in World War II. Here is a short excerpt: "Arise, ye who refuse to be slaves! With our flesh and blood, let us build our new Great Wall!" The song immediately swept the nation, and in September 1949, it was one of the songs submitted as a candidate for the national anthem. Many people liked the idea, and it was adopted as the anthem. But it was not until 1982 that "The March of the Volunteers" was officially named the national anthem by the National People's Congress.

| Back |

---

Beijing Tiananmen Square Tours

Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven & Summer Palace Bus Tour --- from US$ 30
Classic City Bus Tour, visit Beijing's highlight attractions to touch the face of the metropolitan city on this one-day tour. Departure: daily.

Badaling Great Wall, Forbidden City & Tiananmen Square Bus Tour --- from US$ 41
Not have much leisure time, but eager to catch the highlights of Beijing, join this, enjoy the three most popular scenic spots in a one-day bus tour. Departure: daily.

Tiananmen Square, Lama Temple, Confucius Temple & Beijing Zoo Private Day Tour --- from US$ 41
Visit Tiananmen Square, Lama Temple, Confucius Temple and Beijing Zoo, enjoy this one day private tour package.

Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City & Temple of Heaven Private Day Tour --- from US$ 45
This 1 day private highlight city tour covers the trip to Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven, enjoy your own car or van with your own tour guide and driver.

Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City & Summer Palace Private Day Tour --- from US$ 46
Highlight one day private tour covers the trip to 3 of the 6 major sites in Beijing. Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City and Summer Palace.

Badaling Great Wall, Tiananmen Square & Forbidden City Private Day Tour --- from US$ 50
This 1 day private tour covers the trip to the most popular sites of Badaling Great Wall, Tiananmen Square and Fobidden City, enjoy your own car or van with your own tour guide and driver.

Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, the Bird's Nest & Water Cube Private Day Tour --- from US$ 60
This 1 day private tour covers the trip to iananmen Square, Forbidden City and Olympic Venues: the Bird's Nest & Water Cube.

3-Day Beijing Private Tour Package --- from US$ 71
3-day private tour package covers airport transfer & the trip to the attractions: Badaling Great Wall, Summer Palace, Peking Duck Dinner, Tiananmen Square & Forbidden City.

4-Day Beijing Private Tour Package --- from US$ 92
4-day private tour package covers airport transfer & the trip to the attractions: Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Badaling Great Wall, Ming tombs & Peking Duck Dinner

Special 4-Day Private Tour Package --- from US$ 105
Attractions: Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Beijing Mongolian Hot Pot, Chinese Acrobatics Show, Great Wall, Ming Tombs, Wangfujing Walking Street, Donghuamen Cuisines Street, Temple of Heaven, Imperial Court Food.

5-Day Beijing Private Tour Package --- from US$ 112
5-day private tour package covers airport transfer & the trip to the attractions: Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Chinese Kungfu show, Badaling Great Wall, Ming tombs, Peking Duck Dinner, Summer Palace & Beijing Hutong by rickshaw

Popular 5-Day Private Tour Package --- from US$ 126
Attractions: Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Peking Roast Duck, Acrobatics Show, Great Wall, Ming Tombs, Temple of Heaven, Imperial Court Food, Beihai Park, Jingshan Park, Wangfujing Walking Street, Donghuamen Cuisines Stree.

4-Day Kaichuang Golden Street Business Hotel Coach Tour Package --- from US$ 151
Pick up from airport to hotel, join 2-day Beijing Badaling Great Wall & Forbidden City Coach Tour & Including 3-night Kaichuang Golden Street Business Hotel(3 star, including breakfast) accommodation & Pick up from hotel to the airport.

4 Day Beijing LuSongYuan Hotel Tour Package --- from US$ 187
Stay in the most distinctive courtyard, Beijng LuSongYuan Hotel. Pick up from airport to hotel, join 2-day Beijing Badaling Great Wall & Forbidden City Coach Tour & Including 3-night hotel accommodation, then pick up from hotel to the airport.

4 Day Jianguo Garden Hotel Tour Package --- from US$ 220
Pick up from airport to hotel, join 2-day Beijing Badaling Great Wall & Forbidden City Coach Tour & Including 3-night Jianguo Garden Hotel (5 star, including breakfast) accommodation & Pick up from hotel to the airport.

4-Day Beijing Wangfujing Grand Hotel Tour Package --- from US$ 224
Pick up from airport to hotel, join 2-day Beijing Badaling Great Wall & Forbidden City Coach Tour & Including 3-night Beijing Wangfujing Grand Hotel (5 star, including breakfast) accommodation, then pick up from hotel to the airport.

Beijing to Xingang 4-Day Wangfujing Grand Hotel Coach Tour Package --- from US$ 288
Pick up from Beijing airport, stay in Beijing Wangfujing Grand Hotel 3 nights and 2-day Beijing Badaling Great Wall & Forbidden City Coach Tour, then transfer to Xingang Port in Tianjin.

More Beijing Tours

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Copyright © since 2000 BeijingLocalTour.com. All rights reserved.
Booking Hotline: 86-10-64334033, 86-10-84569637
Mobile Hotline (24 hours): 86-13522888380, 13801051196
Fax: 86-10-64382877, 86-10-64364332, US Fax: 1-760-4656711
Address: No.1206, Building 5, Tuofangying Xili, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China 100016
For Reservation & Tour Enquiry: tour@beijinglocaltour.com
For any questions or suggestions about website tech, please contact: webmaster@beijinglocaltour.com

| Terms of Use and Privacy Policy |