T'ien-an-men

The cap insignia for all personnel is the national emblem, T’ien-an-men (Heavenly gate), and the collar tabs are red. (Figure 25.)

March 8, 1952, International Working Women’s Day, was an unforgettable day for me. We, the first women fliers of new China, flew in formation over Tien An Men to be reviewed by the Chinese people’s great leader Chairman Mao. Later he received us in Chungnanhai and posed for a picture with us.

Shortly before this the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Peking had informed the foreign embassies that, for the first time since the foundation of the PRC in 1949, there would be no mass rally in front of the T’ien-an-mên (Gate of Heaven) on National Day (1 October).

Prospect Hill lies in the rectangle to the north, while to the south is the main gate of the Forbidden City, T'ien-an-men.

A wildfire of protest had swept across China, and on May 4 some five thousand students from Peking University had held a demonstration at the T’ien-an men, the gate to the palace.

The national or state emblem depicts the Gate of Heavenly Peace (Tiananmen or T’ien-an-men) that leads from Tiananmen Square to the Forbidden City (former imperial palace) in Beijing.