Tiananmen Square Gate of China was demolished, allowing for the enlargement of the square. In November 1958, a major expansion of Tiananmen Square started, which was completed after only 11 months, in August 1959. This followed the vision of Mao Zedong to make the square the largest and most spectacular in the world, and intended to hold over 500,000 people. In that process, a large number of residential buildings and other structures have been demolished. On its southern edge, the Monument to the People's Heroes has been erected. Concomitantly, as part of the Ten Great Buildings constructed between 1958–59 to commemorate the
Funding of student organizations during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests million HK Yuan took place a week before Tiananmen Square was cleared by troops. There is visual evidence that some tents and supplies were delivered to Tiananmen Square but it is unlikely that all of the funds raised could have been spent in one week. It is possible that other Pro-Democracy groups still had unspent funds on June 4th. Given the violent and chaotic end of the Pro-Democracy Movement it is not known what happened to these unspent funds. Funding of student organizations during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests The catalyst for the birth of the Pro-Democracy Movement was the