Published : 2025-07-15

On July 15, 1979, the Great Hall of the People, located in Beijing, was reopened to the public.

The Great Hall of the People was one of the "10 Great Buildings" commemorating the 10th Anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1959 to showcase the achievements of the 10 years of construction.

In the early days, apart from political activities of the state, the Great Hall of the People was open one or two days a week for the general public to walk in and visit the building free of charge.

On festive occasions, large-scale activities were organised, and various units would give tickets to their employees.

In the 1960s, after the outbreak of the Cultural Revolution and in view of the chaotic social situation, the Great Hall of the People was temporarily closed and used only for large-scale conferences, or for leaders' offices and meetings, and was no longer open to the public.

At the beginning of 1979, a Spring Festival party for the people of the capital, which had been interrupted for 15 years, was held in the Great Hall of the People.

Deng Yingchao (鄧穎超), then vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), declared at the scene that "the forbidden zone of the Great Hall has been broken, and it has returned to the embrace of the people".

In less than half a year since its reopening, the Great Hall of the People has received more than 1.3 million domestic visitors, more than 13,000 overseas Chinese, Hong Kong and Macao compatriots, and more than 3,000 foreign guests.