National Unity Pillars find temporary home in Olympic Park

On January 31, after five days of intensive work, 56 pillars symbolizing national unity were placed in the Olympic Park and attracted many visitors. This also is their first appearance before the public after they were removed from Tiananmen Square.

The temporary location lies in the green belt of the central area

The 56 pillars were put in the green belt of the park's central area, on the location of the old Xiangyun Theatre, southeast of the Olympic Forest Park's south gate and northwest of the China Science and Technology Museum.

Unlike the previous arrangement in Tiananmen Square during National Day holidays, the pillars are not put in a standard, two-row formation but were placed with over 20 standing on a large cement platform in the eastern side, four sets of four pillars each are set up on a green patch in the central area and then there are more than 10 arrayed beside the green land.

Steel plate was placed between the pillars and cement platform

A layer of steel was placed between the pillars and cement platform. One of the people from the Steel Structure Company of Beijing Zhuzong Group, who was in charge of installing the steel plate, said that underneath the cement platform there was nothing but soil and it wasn't stable enough, so the steel plate had to be installed to disperse the pressure.

During last year's National Day holidays, the 56 National Unity Pillars placed in Tiananmen Square created the most beautiful. These pillars were moved out of the square in December of last year, and they were scheduled to be moved after being refurbished. Reporters learned that at this point the pillars have just been placed in the Olympic Park on a trial basis and the final location has not yet been determined.