August 1st Building

August 1st Building
八一大楼
August 1st Building
Alternative names	Great Hall of the People's Liberation Army (解放军的人民大会堂)
General information
Address	No. 7 Fuxing Road, Haidian District, Beijing,   People's Republic of China
Coordinates	39°54′27″N116°19′16″E / 39.9075°N 116.321°E / 39.9075; 116.321
Current tenants	Central Military Commission 中央军委办公厅
Construction started	2 March 1997
Completed	30 October 1997 (structure); July 1999 (opening)
Cost	779 million RMB
Landlord	August 1st Building Management Service of the General Office of the CMC
Technical details
Floor count	12 floors, 2 basements
Floor area	90,255m2
Design and construction
Architecture firm	4th Design Institute of the Engineering Corps of the General Staff Department

The August 1st Building, also known as the Bayi Building ^[a] located at No. 7 Fuxing Road (Beijing) in Haidian District, Beijing, is a military office building in Beijing, China. It was planned to be the main office for the agencies of the Central Military Commission and the Ministry of Defense. It has become known as the "Great Hall of the People's Liberation Army" as it is the venue of most military diplomatic events and important military meetings. ^[1]

Description

Minister of Defense Wei Fenghe holds a welcoming ceremony for Secretary of Defense James Mattis on the August 1st Square, in front of the August 1st Building, on 27 June 2018.

The first PLA main office in Beijing was located at 20 Jingshan Qianjie, also known as the "Three Gates" complex (三座门). ^[b] These facilities were fairly small, so since the 1980s there were plans to build a larger complex. The August 1st building project ("844 Project") started in 1988 under the direction of recently retired head of the PLA General Office, Fu Xuezheng. ^[2] The construction project broke ground on 2 March 1997, the main structure was completed by 30 October 30, 1997, basically completed the facade and equipment installation by the end of 1998, and the building was fully completed at the end of July 1999. The total investment of the project was RMB 779 million, with a total floor area of 90,255m², for an average cost of 8,631.9RMB/m². ^[1] 。

The August 1st Building was designed by the Fourth Design Institute of the General Staff Department. The main building has 12 floors above the ground and 2 basements. To the south side of the main building there is the August 1st Square, where review ceremonies are held. To the north side there are 12,600m² of green space. On the west side of the building is the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution, and to the south, across the Fuxing Road, is the main building of the China State Railway Group (formerly the Ministry of Railways). ^[1]

The August 1st Building is managed by the Bayi Building Management Service of the General Office of the Central Military Commission. ^[3]

Hardened (nuclear resistant) facilities for military command agencies (such as the headquarters of the Joint Operations Command) are located inside the Western Hills. China is possibly now building a large new underground administrative and command center in the nearby Qinglonghu area. ^{[4] [5]}

See also

• General Office of the Central Military Commission
• Jade Spring Hill、Western Hills Yuquan Mountain, Western Mountains
• The Pentagon

Notes

1. Bayi is the pinyin reading for the characters "八一", or "8-1", meaning August 1st
2. not to be confused with the Three Gates inside the Forbidden City, or the Three Gates close to the Temple of Heaven)

References

1. "八一大楼等今日参展". 新浪. 2007-12-19. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2012-12-29.
2. 傅学正 (2006). "在中央军委办公厅工作的日子". 党史天地 (1): 8–16. Archived from the original on 2021-10-26. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
3. "齐心协力筑平台 潜心尽力育"工匠"——市教育局王新刚副处长、旅游学校陈作亮校长一行访北京人民大会堂、中央军委办公厅八一大楼". 搜狐. 2016-12-13. Archived from the original on 2016-12-22. Retrieved 2016-12-21.
4. Jian, Yong (2025-02-03). "China building world's biggest military base in prep for US war". Asia Times. Retrieved 2025-03-06.
5. "China building 'doomsday' command 10 times bigger than the Pentagon". Australian Financial Review. 2025-01-31. Retrieved 2025-03-06.