Great Hall of the People

Great Hall of the People
人民大会堂
The Great Hall of the People, facing the Monument to the People's Heroes.
General information
Location	Renda Huitang West Road Tiananmen Square Xicheng Beijing
Country	People's Republic of China
Coordinates	39°54′12″N 116°23′15″E / 39.90333°N 116.38750°E / 39.90333; 116.38750Coordinates: 39°54′12″N 116°23′15″E / 39.90333°N 116.38750°E / 39.90333; 116.38750
Opened	September 1959 (1959-09)

Great Hall of the People
Inside the main auditorium.
Traditional Chinese	人民大會堂
Simplified Chinese	人民大会堂
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Rénmín Dàhuìtáng [ɻə̌nmǐn tâxwêitʰǎŋ] Gwoyeu Romatzyh Renmin Dahhueytarng Wade–Giles Jenmin Tahuit'ang

The Great Hall of the People is a state building located at the western edge of Tiananmen Square in Beijing. It is used for legislative and ceremonial activities by the People's Republic of China (PRC) government and the ruling Communist Party of China. The Great Hall functions as the meeting place for the full sessions of the Chinese parliament, the National People's Congress (NPC), which occurs every year during March along with the national session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), a political advisory body. It is also the meeting place of the National Congress of the Communist Party of China, which, since 1982, has occurred once every five years.

The Great Hall is also used for many special events, including national level meetings of various social and political organisations, large anniversary celebrations, as well as the memorial services for former leaders. The Great Hall of the People is also a popular attraction in the city frequented by tourists visiting the capital.

The Great Hall of the People was designed by Zhang Bo. It was opened in September 1959, and was one of the "Ten Great Constructions" completed for the 10th Anniversary of the PRC. The structure was built in 10 months by construction workers and volunteers.

The building covers 171,801 square metres (1,849,239 sq ft) of floor space, it is 356 metres in length and 206.5 metres in width. The centre peaks at 46.5 metres. At the eaves of the main gate hangs the national emblem of the PRC.

The Great Hall of the People consists of three sections.

Each province, special administrative region, autonomous region of China has its own hall in the Great Hall, such as Beijing Hall, Hong Kong Hall and Taiwan Hall. Each hall has the unique characteristics of the province and is furnished according to the local style.

The Great Auditorium, with volume of 90,000 cubic metres, seats 3,693 in the lower auditorium, 3,515 in the balcony, 2,518 in the gallery and 300 to 500 on the dais. Government leaders make their speeches; and the representatives do much of their business. It can simultaneously seat 10,000 representatives. The ceiling is decorated with a galaxy of lights, with a large red star is at the centre of the ceiling, and a pattern of a water waves nearby represents the people. Its facilities equipped with audio-visual and other systems adaptable to a variety of meeting types and sizes. A simultaneous interpretation system is also provided with a language booth.