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Two generations' parades, the turns and shifts
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-09-23 15:37

Heavy rain forces the school to shift the drilling from the playground to classrooms.

"Today we'll practice standing, as we have to stand for a long time on the National Day and it's not easy without practice," Ji explains to the students.

They also practice waving flowers and flipping cards in measured movements.

In total, 900 students from Ji's school will participate in the parade. They will hold a bunch of plastic flowers at Tian'anmen Square on October 1, to fit into a huge board featuring "National Day" and "Long live China" in Chinese.

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As in previous parades, the country's leadership will inspect from the Tian'anmen Rostrum opposite the square parade phalanxes composed of students, army, and civilians from all walks of life.

Like many of his students, Ji's daughter seems untouched by the event, in sharp contrast to the excitement he felt for the previous two parades.

When the school first mobilized the students in February for the parade, Ji's daughter was not willing. "The drills are demanding and may squeeze away my study time," she said.

Both her parents and teachers tried to motivate her. "It will be a rare, memorable and worthwhile experience, something you will feel only when you are there," encouraged Ji's wife.

The daughter finally agreed and the drills started in July. "We train from 7:00 to 10:30 each morning, with no weekends, except a two-week break during the summer vacation," Ji said, adding that "running and leg lifting are the daily routine to improve students' physical fitness."

Though Ji's daughter rarely complains, he can feel the zeal that he had in 1984 was clearly missing. Then a 19-year-old high school graduate, he and his classmates regarded it a great honor to be part of the National Day parade.

Teachers had to persuade students in poor health to withdraw from the parade, he recalls.

The parade in 1984 to mark the 35th anniversary of New China, the first in 24 years, was deemed a significant display of national strength and progress. From 1949 to 1959, parades were held annually on October 1. Since 1984, only the 50th anniversary of the People's Republic was celebrated with a parade in 1999.

"We assembled at 5 a.m. and got to Nanchizi Street, a 15-minute walk from Tian'anmen Square, at 6 a.m., where we waited until noon to walk to Chang'an Avenue," Ji recalls his first parade.

Many of the balloons expected for flying when they walked past Tian'anmen Square had escaped away during the wait, he says.

Ji and his classmates returned to school after midnight, in high spirit.

"There was no bus. Cars and even bicycles were still luxuries to ordinary families. Many students living far from school slept in the classroom that night. We were all very excited," he says.

Li Chunling, deputy director of the juveniles and social issues research office with CASS, attributed such passion to common values and an interest in politics.

"But this only-child generation, including Ji's daughter, has more diversified values due to the more open and informative environment. They also face fiercer competition in terms of school exams and jobs, making them more pragmatic," Li says.