More than 500 workers began turning Tian'anmen Square into an Olympic and revolution-themed party venue.

The work started on Tuesday night ahead of the National Day on October 1 which marks the 58th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

More than 400,000 flowers and plants will be used to decorate the square in downtown Beijing and scale models of the Acropolis in Athens, the Great Wall and the Olympic torch will be constructed, similar to last year's replicas of the Potala Palace and the Three Gorges Dam.

According to the Municipal Bureau of Landscape and Forestry, a central flower terrace, surrounding a fountain, will depict four Chinese characters that read "Wan Zhong Yi Xin," meaning "millions of people, one mind."

A flower terrace on the western part of the square will feature models of the Temple of Heaven and three scenes marking the history of the Communist Party of China: the Nanhu Boat in Zhejiang Province, on which the first CPC national congress was held in 1921; the venue of the Zunyi Meeting held during the Long March in Guizhou Province in 1935, and the Yan'an Pagoda in Shaanxi Province, the key landmark in a city that became known as a Chinese revolutionary base from the mid-1930s.

The display will remain in place for the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China on October 15.

(Xinhua News Agency September 6, 2007)