National Day rehearsals enter second round

• Source: Global Times
• [17:54 September 24 2009]
• Comments

Workers put up a light display along the banks of the Suzhou River in Shanghai in preparation for the coming National Day holiday.

With a 50-hour traffic control throughout the city, the second-round of rehearsals for the National Day celebrations began early this morning.

Previously planned for Saturday, the rehearsal was postponed to avoid the wet weather, according to a notice posted on the website of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau.

Citizens were told to reduce unnecessary travel by car and all parked cars along the controlled areas were removed to make way for the huge parade. Tourist sites and shops around Tian'anmen Square were closed Sunday.

A series of state-of-the-art military equipment such as intercontinental missiles and cruise missiles was recognized by a Global Times reporter as armored cars passed Jianguomen along Chang'an Avenue on Sunday.

"I am looking forward to witnessing the military parade, as China is getting stronger, I'm so proud of it," said Wu Jianlong, a 40-year-old Beijinger, who took his son to watch the rehearsal. "It's also a good chance to cultivate my son's patriotism," he added.

Dozens of armored vehicles were seen passing along Dawang Road, East of Chang'an Avenue, last night.

Denys Kolesngk, 29, a Ukrainian businessman, told the Global Times that he was amazed by the motorcade, "We had similar military parades, but not on such a big scale."

He said the traffic inconvenience brought by the rehearsal was understandable and that he was confident of security in Beijing.

"I've lived here for a year and I feel quite safe. I hope the parade will go well," he said.

Rehearsals for the fireworks show were staged this time as a number of firework-ignition points were marked out in the Tian'anmen area, officials from the 60th National Day celebration preparation committee told the Shanghai Morning Post on Friday.

To prevent possible blazes, Tian'anmen Rostrum, the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall and other buildings had taken steps to eliminate hazards of inflammable and explosive materials, especially on rooftops.

Preparations went ahead day and night in order that Chang'an Avenue takes on an entirely new look after the biggest revamp in 10 years.

The city will be decorated as a sea of bloom with more than 40 million flowers.

Last week, the first three-dimensional National Day flowerbed was unveiled in Chaoyang Park with a special symbol of "60 years." Other shapes including a bird nest, a water cube and a symbol referring to the information age made their debut on major roads.

Several revolutionary songs will accompany the parade, Yu Hai, the military band's conductor of the parade, told the China News Service.

"The songs will feature the original voices of Chinese leaders such as Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao."