China Stamps: 2009-15

China Stamps
Name: The Great Hall of the People
Number: 2009-15
Date of Issue: 18 July 2009
Value: 2 stamps/set

Denominations:
1.20元 (2-1): The East Gate
The East Gate is the main entrance to the Great Hall of the People, where welcome ceremonies for national guests take place while the Guard of Honor of the three services of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) is reviewed.

1.20元 (2-2): The Great Auditorium
The ceiling illumination system of the Great Auditorium has a red five-star lighting as the center, surrounded by golden sunflower petals and rays of luster, and the rest of the ceiling is dotted with more than 500 lamps shining like stars, symbolizing that people of all ethnic groups of the nation rally closely around the CPC Central Committee.

Constructed in 1959, and personally named by Chairman Mao Zedong, the Great Hall of the People covers an area of 15 hectares with a floor space of 171,800 square meters. In addition to the 10,000-seat Great Auditorium, the Banquet Hall, the conference hall of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), the building also houses 34 reception chambers named after different provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities and special administrative regions of the country. It is an important venue for the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the State government to hold political, diplomatic and social events, and there the Standing Committee of the NPC handles official business.

Over the past 50 years, the Great Hall of the People has witnessed the course of the Chinese people towards great prosperity through reform and opening-up under the leadership of the CPC, the construction and development of China's socialist democracy and legal system, and the remarkable achievements of the nation in economic, political, cultural and social construction. The year 2009 marks the 50th anniversary of the Great Hall of the People.