Soviet-style landmark plays host to China congress

Reuters ^ | 05 Mar 2004 | Tamora Vidaillet

[Tailgunner Joe]

With its sparkling skyscrapers, Maserati dealerships and tens of thousands of entrepreneurs, one can be forgiven for overlooking China's deep Communist roots.

But for a sober reminder, look no further than the Great Hall of the People, venue for the annual session of parliament which began on Friday.

In stark contrast to the dramatic social and economic changes that have swept China, the massive Great Hall -- completed in 1959 when China's main Cold War ally was the Soviet Union -- has seen little change.

Internet terminals do now grace the interior of the imposing building and, after 25 years of opening and reform, the once ubiquitous Mao suit is now the reserved mainly for ageing cadres.

But heavy Communist symbolism prevails.

The hallways are decked with red carpets and party flags flutter from the roof. Communist emblems grace the walls and ceilings of the structure, one of several in the capital modelled on the grandiose Soviet architecture of times gone by.

Delegates from far-flung corners of the world's most populous nation were greeted by enduring symbols of the revolution after filing out of buses parked on Tiananmen Square, the stage of many a political drama over more than 50 years.

Just outside the Great Hall lie the Gate of Heavenly Peace, where in 1949 Communist leader Mao Zedong declared the Chinese people had stood up, and the party chairman's final resting place, his mausoleum.

Four storeys high and covering roughly four football pitches, the hall was one of 10 buildings erected up to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic. It was constructed in just 10 months.

Within its high walls, delegates listened as reformist Premier Wen Jiabao, one of China's fourth generation of younger leaders steering the economic powerhouse, delivered his speech against a backdrop of a massive red and gold national seal on a vast stage, flanked by China's top leadership.

A labyrinth of smaller meeting halls, offices and a banquet hall on the north side of the building contribute to the Great Hall's floor space of 171,800 sq m.

Ornate screens and paintings, adding a Chinese flavour to the otherwise block-like building, grace the smaller rooms and meeting halls, one for each province and region -- including Taiwan, which China considers part of the mainland.

[DManA]

What an odd sentence:

the hall was one of 10 buildings erected up to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic.

[DarkWaters]

The fools here in the West like to make believe that communism is dead. There is communism this, communism that and still they don't want to see it. I remember watching last years event on CSPAN where Jiang Zemin was giving his last speech as premier and talking about the accomplishments that where made under Deng Xiaoping theory. That was enough to give me a few goose bumps.