Chairman Mao Memorial Hall

The Chairman Mao Memorial Hall stands on the axis of Tiananmen Square in Beijing and holds the embalmed body of Mao Zedong in a crystal sarcophagus. The building was completed in just six months after Mao's death in 1976 and opened in September 1977, a deliberate statement by the successor leadership under Hua Guofeng. The monumental socialist structure is surrounded by sculptural groups idealising revolution and construction; inside, visitors queue, then file past the glass-topped coffin without stopping and without photos. Open mornings most weekdays, free entry but ID required and tight security. Still a charged pilgrimage site of Chinese Communist Party history.