BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao and other leaders offered a rare glimpse of their dancing steps and singing voices Thursday evening as they joined tens of thousands of people at an evening gala celebrating New China's 60th birthday.

    Red lanterns, bright lights, 33-minute spectacular fireworks, high-spirited songs and dances turned the Tian'anmen Square in central Beijing into a sea of joy Thursday evening.

Hu Jintao, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, joins the grand gala celebrating the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, on the Tian'anmen square in central Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 1, 2009. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang) Photo Gallery>>>

 

    Hu and Jiang Zemin, Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Jia Qinglin, Li Changchun, Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, He Guoqiang, Zhou Yongkang, as well as many other leaders, incumbent and retired, came to watch the performances from the Tian'anmen Rostrum since 8 p.m. when the gala began.

    About 60,000 people dressed in festive costume, including public servants, company workers, university students, servicemen and local residents, took part in the gala eulogizing Chinese people's love for the nation and great unity of all ethnic groups.

Former Chinese President Jiang Zemin (C) joins the grand gala celebrating the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, on the Tian'anmen square in central Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 1, 2009. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang) Photo Gallery>>>

    More than 4,000 performers manipulated computer-controlled LED electronic trees to form a "light cube", which showed the images of olive trees and doves as well as characters including "long live the motherland".

    At about 9:20 p.m., Hu, Jiang and other leaders descended the rostrum to join the crowd at the square amid applauses, cheers and fireworks.

    To the cheerful and light-hearted rhythm, the leaders and people wearing traditional costumes of different ethnic groups began their group dancing.

    Meiha Ay, a Uygur teacher in Beijing, told Xinhua later that she enjoyed the moment of dancing with President Hu hand-in-hand.

    "I'm so honored to dance with the leader on behalf of the Uygur people," she said. "We wish the country a better future."

    "The solidarity between the Party and people of all ethnic groups is the guarantee of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation," said Prof. Cai Xia with Party School of the Central Committee of CPC. "The leaders' joining in the festive crowd was of political implication."

    "The five-star red flag is fluttering in the wind, the song of victory is sung aloud..." After the dance, the leaders and 60,000 people sang together the patriotic song "Ode to the Motherland".

    The chorus brought the square's fervor to a climax and the people had radiant smiles on the face.

    Tibetan girl Ngawang Qungji said she was excited that President Hu joined hands with Tibetan and Uygur performers to dance.

    "We are just like the members of the same family and celebrate our mother's birthday together," she said.

    "There are so many reasons for us to be proud of the great changes over the past 60 years," she said. "I even couldn't help crying when I saw the fireworks portraying a train running on the Qinghai-Tibet Railway lighted the Tian'anmen Square."

    Senior Chinese can still remember another touching scene on the evening of the National Day in 1966 when Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai, surrounded by a crowd of civilians, sat on the cold ground of the Golden Water Bridge in front of the Tian'anmen Rostrum to enjoy watching the fireworks show with beaming faces.

    Behind the close relationship between CPC leaders and the people is the "Mass Line," the fundamental work method of the CPC, which means "all for the masses, all rely on the masses" and "from the masses, to the masses." The "Mass Line" has been cherished by the CPC as a guarantee to achieve victories in its cause.

    "Beside sharing the joy of celebration, what touches me more is that the leaders always go to the front line to share people's woes when they are in difficulty," said Chen Yanyan, a Beijing citizen, while watching the televised gala performance.

Chinese leaders join in National Day evening gala

Chinese President Hu Jintao (C), flanked by former president Jiang Zemin (2nd R) and other senior leaders, applauds as they watch the grand gala celebrating the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, on the Tian'anmen Rostrum in central Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 1, 2009. (Xinhua/Ju Peng) Photo Gallery>>>

    BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao and other senior leaders arrived at the Tian'anmen Rostrum Thursday evening to join in a grand gala involving 60,000 participants to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.  Full story

Ethnic unity highlighted at China's National Day evening gala

    BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Ethnic unity became a major theme of a grand gala in Beijing Thursday evening marking the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

    Dressed in traditional festive costumes of different ethnic groups, tens of thousands of performers danced joyously to the rhythm of famous folk songs of different ethnic groups on Tian'anmen Square in downtown Beijing.  Full story

Fireworks portrays Qinghai-Tibet Railway, Shenzhou space shuttle

    BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Amid applauses and excited exclamations from the audience, a firework drawing portraying a train running on the Qinghai-Tibet Railway lighted the Tian'anmen Square and dazzled all on the scene.

    The firework drawing was displayed on a screen-like installation on the Square. Gunpowder was fixed on thousands of spots on the screen and were lighted in a preset order to "draw" pictures.  Full story

60 firework doves "fly" to Tian'anmen Square

    BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Following the song, "on the sunny road", fireworks displayed the shape of 60 doves flying over the Tian'anmen Square. More than 4,000 performers played the pigeon whistles to express the hope for peace. Full story

National Day evening gala warms up with song "I Love China"

    BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- The grand National Day evening gala on Tian'anmen Square warmed up when about 60,000 people began dancing to the popular song "I Love China" Thursday evening.

    At the center of the square, about 4,000 performers in a huge formation waved large peony bouquets and formed Chinese knots. When music changed, flowers and knots were suddenly replaced by an ocean of red ribbons. Full story

China's National Day evening gala begins with spectacular fireworks show

    BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- A grand evening gala to celebrate New China's 60th founding anniversary started Thursday evening at the Tian'anmen Square when 60 birthday-candle-shaped fireworks exploded into the sky and lit up the vast square.  Full story

Fireworks explode over the Tian'anmen Square in central Beijing during a grand gala marking the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Oct. 1, 2009.(Xinhua/Yang Shirao) Photo Gallery>>>

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