Tourists pose for photos in front of the recently popular wall murals in Wuying village, Shangqiu, Central China's Henan Province, featuring images such as Tiananmen and Nezha, on December 26, 2025. Photo:VCG

A giant Tiananmen-themed wall mural in a village in Central China's Henan Province has recently gone viral online after a young Chinese painter surnamed Wu created the artwork to bring the iconic national landmark to elderly villagers who had never seen Tiananmen in person, China Media Group-owned China National Radio (CNR) reported on Monday.

According to CNR, a young painter named Wu Chengyan from Wuying village in Yanji town, Shangqiu, Henan Province, spent five days creating the giant Tiananmen-themed mural for local residents, as shown in a video posted on his independently operated Douyin (Chinese TikTok) account. The video shows elderly villagers frequently stopping by during the painting process to ask when it would be completed, their faces filled with anticipation. The video has received more than 560,000 likes and over 40,000 comments

As shown in Wu's video, some elderly villagers quietly watched as the Tiananmen image on the white wall was gradually filled with color, becoming increasingly vivid and complete.

After the mural was completed, Wu brought more than a dozen elderly villagers to the site for group photos, personally pushing two seniors with limited mobility in wheelchairs. Several elderly residents were moved to tears, saying they felt extremely happy and that the scene was "just like Beijing." They described it as an honor of a lifetime and saying their wish for the year had been fulfilled. Some also expressed hopes that the coming year would be even better. 

The Tiananmen wall mural has become a must-see local landmark, drawing large numbers of visitors to the village. Media reports said that visitor numbers reached 50,000 during the New Year Day holidays. On New Year's Day, some vendors recorded sales exceeding 20,000 yuan (about $2,860). By early morning on the second day of 2026, stalls were already being set up before 8 am, with one barbecue vendor saying they had worked until after 10 pm the previous night as visitors continued to arrive.

Wu told reporters that the idea came after he asked an elderly villager about his wish and was told that seeing Tiananmen was a lifelong dream. He said many villagers in their seventies and eighties had rarely traveled, which inspired him to paint Tiananmen for them. Wu added that painting China's National Emblem left the deepest impression on him, saying that as it took shape, he felt increasingly moved and filled with a sense of solemn respect, CNR reported. 

Global Times