the western and eastern walls have giant placards; the left one reads "long live the people's republic of china" (), while the right one reads "long live the great unity of the world's peoples". the right placard used to read "long live the central people's government" () for the founding ceremony of the prc, but after the ceremony it was changed to "long live the great unity of the world's peoples" (). both placards were changed to use simplified chinese instead of traditional chinese characters in 1964. the phrasing has significant symbolic meaning, as the phrase used for "long live", like the imperial city itself, was traditionally reserved for emperors of china, but is now available to the common people.