Update 2009: 20 years after the events of June 4, 1989, one of the student movement's most prominent characters is attempting to censor this website. Click here to read about Chai Ling and her company's lawsuit against the Long Bow Group. [Chinese version (中文版)] Click here to read a statement on the lawsuit by WGBH/FRONTLINE.
In the spring of 1989, Chinese students and workers occupied Beijing's Tiananmen Square and began the largest nonviolent political protest in China's history. At the height of the movement, over one million people marched in the streets of Beijing. The movement ended with the government's crackdown and the Beijing massacre of June 4.
Witnessed on television by millions around the world, the Tiananmen protests were one of the most watched, yet least understood, stories of our time. This website explores the origins and history of the protests, the intense international media coverage, and underlying themes such as democracy, human rights, reform and revolution, and nationalism. The site contains articles, essays, and book excerpts, a tour of Tiananmen Square, and a Media Library with posters, photographs, music, and videos.
This site also includes extensive information about the feature-length documentary The Gate of Heavenly Peace, "a deep, powerful and rivetingly complex study of Tiananmen." (Newsweek, October 9, 1995)