Discover Huabiao in Tian'anmen Square

In front of the Tiananmen rostrum stands a pair of marble columns called Huabiao. They are elaborately cut in bas-relief following the pattern of la legendary dragon. Behind the gate stands another pair of similar columns. The story of Huabiao may be traced to a couple of sources.

Origin
One of the versions accredits its invention to one of the Chinese sage kings named Yao, who was said to have set up a wooden pillar in order to allow the ordinary people to expose evil-doers, hence it was originally called a slander pillar. Later it was reduced to a signpost, and now it serves as an ornament.

Beast sitting on the top of Hubiao
The beast sitting on the top of the column is called hou, a legendary animal, which is said to have been a watcher of an emperors behavior. He was doing such duties as warning the emperor against staying too long outside the palace or indulging in pleasure and urging him to go to the people for their complaints or return in due time. Therefore, the two pairs of beasts were given the names wangjinghui (Expecting the emperors coming back) and wangjunchu (Expectying the emperor going out) respectively.

Zhongshan Park (Dr. sunyat-sens park)
On the West side of Tiananmen, stands Zhongshan Park (Dr. sunyat-sens park), The Park was formerly called Shejitan (Altar of Land and Grain), built in 1420 for offering sacrificial items to the God of Land. It was opened to the public as a park in 1914 and its name was changedto the present one in memory of the great pioneer of Chinese Democratic Revolution in 1928.

Beijing Tour Routes covers Tiananmen Square:

Photo of Tiananmen Square