The entrance ticket was designed like a folded invitation card, with a gold-stamped Tian'anmen Gate Tower on the front cover. A red carpet was laid before the ticket office.

The opening date was announced to the public several days before. At around 5 a.m. on January 1, 1988, people began to queue in front of Tian'anmen for an entrance ticket. Everyone looked as serious as if they were about to deliver the inauguration speech on TV, according to Dong Baocun, a journalist at the scene that day.

This photo from January 1, 1999 shows Gao Xiwu (2nd right) and his family on the Tian'anmen Gate Tower. Gao was the first visitor to Tian'anmen after it was opened. [File photo: Xinhua]

The 75-year old Gao Xiwu had the good fortune to be the first ordinary visitor to the Tian'anmen Gate Tower. The retired worker of Beijing Dongsi Store had been queuing for a ticket since 7:00 in the morning. When he reached the tower at 9:00, Bo Xicheng gave him a "visitor's certificate" and a cloisonné vase as presents.

A French couple received the same presents. They were the first foreign tourists to enter the Tian'anmen Gate Tower.

Pricing

When the Tian'anmen Gate Tower was opened to visitors in 1988, tickets to the Great Hall of People was three jiao (0.3 yuan), to the Summer Palace one yuan, and to the Forbidden City five yuan. How much should the ticket for Tian'anmen be? The issue was discussed at great length.

"I can't remember how many meetings were held... It was a difficult decision to take," said Bo Xicheng in an interview. At that time, he recalls, there were two apparently contradictory guiding principles: First, the price shouldn't be too high. It must be affordable to ordinary people. Second, the price shouldn't be too low, because excessive numbers of tourists would cause harm to the ancient architecture.

At last, the 25th meeting of the Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal Government passed a resolution: The ticket to the Tian'anmen Gate Tower should be 40 yuan (in foreign exchange certificate) for each foreign visitor and 10 yuan for each domestic visitor. But in 1988, Beijing International Tourism Year, foreign visitors could take advantage of a special price of 30 yuan each.

The pricing of the Tian'anmen ticket made a profound impression on the Chinese public.

Luo Gan, then vice chairman of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, once sent Yang Dengyan 10 yuan and a letter. In the letter, Luo explained: "This money is for my Tian'anmen ticket. I didn't pay last time I visited. I should make up for it. I took part in meetings on ticket pricing."

From this letter, says Yang Dengyan, you can tell that a wide range of government departments took part in the discussions concerning the pricing of the Tian'anmen Gate Tower.

In the 1980s, most Chinese were earning less than 100 yuan per month. At first, the Beijing Tourism Administration was worried the 10-yuan ticket would be too high. But their worries proved unfounded.

On the New Year's Day, over 2,000 people visited the Tian'anmen Gate Tower. In January, visitors to the tower numbered 38,253. In 1988, Tian'anmen received more than 600,000 visitors, with ticket revenues of over 7.8 million yuan.

Great changes have taken place in the management office of Tian'anmen Gate Tower since then. It has become able to cover its own operating costs and earn a profit.

Months after Tian'anmen's opening, China accelerated its pace of opening up. In early 1988, the East Liaoning Peninsula and the Shandong Peninsula were opened. Together with Dalian, Qinhuangdao, Tianjin, Yantai and Qingdao, they formed the Bohai economic rim.

On March 4, China opened more areas along its coast. A total of 288 cities and counties were opened. Some 160 million people were able to get in touch with the outside world.

In April, Hainan Province was founded. It became the largest special economic zone in China.

The Tian'anmen Gate Tower, once the private property of the emperor, was made accessible to the public 567 years after its creation. The changes in Tian'anmen and other places in China bore witness to the nation's firm resolve to carry on with the reform and opening-up policy.

(China.org.cn by Chen Xia, January 13, 2009)