I Love Beijing Tiananmen

"I Love Beijing Tiananmen" (simplified Chinese: 我爱北京天安门; traditional Chinese: 我愛北京天安門; pinyin: Wǒ ài Běijīng Tiān'ānmén), formerly translated as "I love Peking Tiananmen", is a children's song written during the Cultural Revolution era of China.

History

This song was part of the daily routine for many primary schools. It would be sung, following "The Internationale" and "The East is Red".

The first two lines of this song were used as background music in the infamous 1995 Japanese bootleg Super Famicom video game, Hong Kong 97. The game, whose plot involved the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997, had a strong anti-Communist China sentiment, and therefore, the song was used sarcastically.

Lyrics

Simplified Chinese

我爱北京天安门，
天安门上太阳升；
伟大领袖毛主席，
指引我们向前进。

Traditional Chinese

我愛北京天安門，
天安門上太陽升；
偉大領袖毛主席，
指引我們向前進。

Pinyin

Wǒ ài Běijīng Tiān'ānmén,
Tiān'ānmén shang tàiyang sheng;
Wěidà lǐngxiù Máo zhǔxí,
Zhǐyǐn wǒmen xiàngqián jìn.

Translation

I love Beijing Tiananmen,
The sun rises above Tiananmen.
The great leader Chairman Mao,
Leads all of us forward.

External links

• Audio file in original Chinese
• Listen on YouTube