Standing eight metres high and weighing two tonnes, the Pillar of Shame is a sculpture of fifty painfully twisted human bodies. It was created by Danish sculptor Jens Galschiot and given as a gift to Chinese people in support of the human rights issue in China.
In the words of Galschiot, the Pillar of Shame "will be set up around the world in defense of human rights as a denouncement of all sorts of infringements against humanity, committed by authorities or others."
On the base of the statue is engraved "The Tiananmen Massacre -- The old cannot kill the young forever" (English on one side, Chinese on the other). The two remaining sides describe the events of Tiananmen and the pro-democracy movement in China.