Monument to the People's Heroes
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WPPeoplesHerosMonument.jpg
The Monument to the People's Heroes (Template:Zh-cp), Beijing, is a ten-story obelisk that was erected as a national monument of the People's Republic of China. Sources differ on the height of the monument, with estimates ranging from 121 feet (36.88m) to 125 feet (38.1m). The monument was constructed from August 1952 to May 1958 and is located to the north of Mao Zedong's mausoleum on the southern edge of Tiananmen Square.
The monument weighs over 10,000 metric tons and contains about 17,000 pieces of marble and granite from Shandong Province and Fangshan District outside Beijing.
The bas relief on the pedestal is a mural-type depiction of Chinese struggle in the First Opium War from 1840 to 1849. The relief can be read in chronological order in a clockwise direction from the east. The northern façade has the inscription, "Eternal Glory to the People's Heroes," a saying by Mao Zedong.Template:China-stub