BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) --
More than 100,000 people from
across the country gathered at
Tian'anmen Square in the heart
of the Chinese capital to
watch the national flag
raising ceremony held in
drizzles at dawn of Monday,
the 58th founding anniversary
of the People's Republic.
Wearing raincoats or holding
up umbrellas, p
more

BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) --
More than 100,000 people from
across the country gathered at
Tian'anmen Square in the heart
of the Chinese capital to
watch the national flag
raising ceremony held in
drizzles at dawn of Monday,
the 58th founding anniversary
of the People's Republic.
Wearing raincoats or holding
up umbrellas, people --
ranging from gray hairs to
toddlers -- began to flock
into the square, which was
ablaze with the color of
400,000 pots of flowers, at
about 5 a.m. 'Happy
birthday to you, motherland!'
acclaimed 18 undergraduates
from the Beijing University of
Aeronautics and Astronautics,
while seeing the five-star red
flag rising at 6:10 a.m.
accompanied by the national
anthem, 'The March of the
Volunteers.' 'I feel so
proud to witness the country
is becoming more and more
prosperous after going through
so many hardships,' said
72-year-old Wang Nianshun,
from Pingdu City of eastern
Shandong Province. In the
futuristic egg-like National
Grand Theater, located west of
the square, 750 political
advisors for the Beijing
municipal government watched
the drama 'Teahouse' written
by the late Chinese literature
maestro Lao She (1898-1966).
A series of trial
performances will be staged at
the new landmark in Beijing
from Sept. 25 to Oct. 13 ahead
of the 17th National Congress
of the Communist Party of
China (CPC). At Sunday's
National Day reception in the
Great Hall of the People,
which just lies between the
square and the theater,
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao
cited the upcoming CPC
congress as 'a congress of
great importance to be held at
a time when China's reform and
development have entered a
crucial stage.' On Monday,
flag raising ceremony was also
held in many of other Chinese
cities, such as Yinchuan,
capital of northwestern
Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region,
drawing tens of thousands of
local residents. In the
central city of Changsha,
Hunan Province, city
administrators organized about
10,000 government employees to
clean streets and railway
stations to greet the National
Day. Monday also marked
the beginning of the 'Golden
Week' of the National Day
holiday, and local tourism
authorities have predicted
that about 1.7 million people
will visit the Chinese capital
during the period. Nationwide,
more than 150 million people
are expected to go on tour.

Category News & Politics

Tags china, national, day, parade, chinese, people's, liberation, army, pla, tian, an, men, square, TAM, Beijing