Beijing Attractions
The Great Hall of the People
Construction of the Great Hall of the People started in October 1958 and was completed by the end of August 1959, taking ten months altogether.
It has a total floor space of 171,800 square metres, 20,000 square metres more than that of the Palace Museum in the neighbourhood. It is 206 metres long and 336 metres wide. Its highest point is 46.5 metres from the ground.
It consists of three major sections: in the north is the Banquet Hall that accommodates 5,000 people; in the centre is the Grand Auditorium with a seating capacity of 10,000; offices of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress are in the south. There are more than 300 reception rooms and conference halls of various sizes. Thirty-four reception rooms are furnished by and named after various provinces, municipalities, autonomous regions and special administrative regions. Each of the rooms is featured by its local style.
The central foyer is for the people attending meetings to take a rest during intervals. The floor is paved with natural marble and the 20 pillars are made of white marble. Each crystal glass chandelier weighs l.2 tons.
Zhaofolou (Tower of the Shining Buddha)
The building was built in 1694. Qianlong's mother used to pray here.
The "Five Hundred Arhats Hill" made of gold, silver, copper, iron and tin, the 18-metre-high huge Tathagata Buddha (Rulaifo) engraved from a 26-metre-long sandalwood log, and the niche for Shining Buddha carved out of nanmu (this kind of nanmu can give off a unusual scent reputed to repel Mosquitoes in summer) are accredited as the three matchless masterpieces in the Lama Temple.
Construction of the Great Hall of the People started in October 1958 and was completed by the end of August 1959, taking ten months altogether.
It has a total floor space of 171,800 square metres, 20,000 square metres more than that of the Palace Museum in the neighbourhood. It is 206 metres long and 336 metres wide. Its highest point is 46.5 metres from the ground.
It consists of three major sections: in the north is the Banquet Hall that accommodates 5,000 people; in the centre is the Grand Auditorium with a seating capacity of 10,000; offices of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress are in the south. There are more than 300 reception rooms and conference halls of various sizes. Thirty-four reception rooms are furnished by and named after various provinces, municipalities, autonomous regions and special administrative regions. Each of the rooms is featured by its local style.
The central foyer is for the people attending meetings to take a rest during intervals. The floor is paved with natural marble and the 20 pillars are made of white marble. Each crystal glass chandelier weighs l.2 tons.
Zhaofolou (Tower of the Shining Buddha)
The building was built in 1694. Qianlong's mother used to pray here.
The "Five Hundred Arhats Hill" made of gold, silver, copper, iron and tin, the 18-metre-high huge Tathagata Buddha (Rulaifo) engraved from a 26-metre-long sandalwood log, and the niche for Shining Buddha carved out of nanmu (this kind of nanmu can give off a unusual scent reputed to repel Mosquitoes in summer) are accredited as the three matchless masterpieces in the Lama Temple.