 On October 1,fifty-seven years ago, more than 300,000 people flocked to Tian’anmen Square to witness the ceremonies for the founding of the People’s Republic of China. At 3 o’clock that afternoon, the band struck up the national anthem while a 54-gun salute fired 28 volleys into the air over Beijing. The late Chairman Mao Zedong, on the rostrum of Tian’anmen with other government and party leaders, solemnly proclaimed to the world the birth of the People’s Republic of China, which marked a new era for the Chinese nation that had suffered from domestic turmoils and foreign suppressions in nearly one century since the Opium War in 1840. October 1 was declared National day and a public holiday. Now it is a big festival for the people of all ethnic groups in China. |
