On the western side of Tiān’ānmén Sq, on a site previously occupied by Taichang Temple, the Jinyiwei (Ming-dynasty secret service) and the Ministry of Justice, the Great Hall of the People is the venue of the legislature, the National People’s Congress (NPC). The 1959 architecture is monolithic and intimidating, and a fitting symbol of China’s huge bureaucracy.
Inside you can peek into 29 of its lifeless rooms named after the provinces of the Chinese universe. Also here is the banquet room where US president Richard Nixon dined in 1972, and the 10,000-seat auditorium with the familiar red star embedded in a galaxy of ceiling lights. The ticket office is down the south side of the building. Bags must be checked in but cameras are admitted.
