If you’ve been following along what’s been happening in China over the last few weeks, it’s been noticeable that they’re preparing for something. Well, that something is the 70th anniversary of the founding or, rather, declaration, of “New China’ by Mao Ze Dong on October 1st, 1949. The date marks the 70th anniversary of the end of the Chinese civil war and the beginning of the Communist Party’s rule over the Mainland of China. According to some statistics, it has some 90.5 million members, but we need to understand that that number includes everyone who basically “votes” within the party system, kinda like if you say you’re going to vote Liberal in Canada and pass a test, then they admit you into the “party” as it stands, but not necessarily how it votes.
The current leader is Xi Jinping and, since 2018 when the Chinese constitution was amended, he will remain as the party leader until he chooses to leave, whenever that may be. The party was originally led by Mao Ze Dong, who laid out the basics for the modern country’s constitution, followed by Deng Xiaoping, who is known for opening up China’s doors to the world. There have been other leaders in between, but Xi Jinping is the latest and probably the one that most people are familiar with right now.
And that’s what this National Day commemorates: the founding of New China.
As for those preparations, there have been quite a few as the city cleans itself up a little and runs through some rehearsals.
These planes few overhead a couple of weeks ago. I managed to identify most of them, but there were a series of fighter jets and helicopters that were a little small to capture and my windows were too dirty.
Meanwhile, Tiananmen has been shuttered to tourists for a week now:
And on Saturdays, there have been parade rehearsals with actual tanks running through city streets. Though I didn’t get a picture of them, a friend sent me a picture of the tanks rolling through Daxing district:
…while the area within the 3rd ring road was locked down:
And then there was this fly over from the south to the north:
Followed by a fireworks rehearsal later that night… at 1130 pm.
Not only these preparations, but over the last few months especially I’ve noticed more “big character” banners going up around the city, reminding citizens to be neat and orderly, peaceful, harmonious, and not disturb the peace.
And that is in addition to the other posters that have been up for a while, such as:
No doubt it’ll be a big event and receive international coverage. Sadly, I won’t be in town to view this spectacle, though I’m sure I’ll catch one of its 1000 re-runs on the subway TV system and national broadcast networks. Instead, I’ll be off of the mainland of China and into Taiwan for two weeks exploring the island and all it has to offer. It’ll certainly be a different type of National Day there. Perhaps, as they say in southeast Asia, same same but different?
国庆节快乐！