![]() Today's national holiday, and much of the military hardware on show may be new, but the choreography could have been for any communist leader past. Nothing was being left to chance perfection clearly the order of the day. Overhead, a perfect, clear blue sky - on Chinese social media they’re calling it 'parade blue', it doesn’t normally look like this.įactories have been shut down, construction stopped, and car use restricted around the city, in an effort to engineer this idyllic, pollution-free backdrop.Ĭhinese media reported, variously, eagles and falcons being used to patrol the skies, and monkeys - specially-trained macaques - deployed to destroy birds nests along the route. These were not just random members of the public - every one will have been carefully vetted and security checked. The organisers had left us each a small bag with a poncho, baseball cap and a small Chinese flag - presumably in case we were suddenly overcome with patriotic fervour, and felt the urge to join in.Īcross the square, the first of the spectators were taking their seats - at one point I saw them being shown how to wave their flags. Media organisations had drawn lots for the one metre square positions - sadly ours was at the back, but with a great view at least of where the foreign dignitaries, including Vladimir Putin would sit. We rushed out to film, but managed about 20 seconds before we were politely, but firmly escorted back behind a red velvet rope and into the gallery set up for foreign press. We pulled up outside the Forbidden City in the early morning sun - in front of the famous portrait of Chairman Mao.įrom the windows of the bus, we saw some last minute rehearsals - soldiers marching past in tight formation, their commanding officer bellowing instructions, presumably fine-tuning every last detail. People who live around here had been told not to open or even look out of their windows during the event - so much for the people's parade. ![]() The best part of an hour later we watched the dawn come up over the car park while still waiting to leave, which was honestly slightly nicer than it sounds.Īnd then finally we were off, in convoy to Tiananmen Square.Īlong empty roads, past pavements completely clear of normal people, all approaches to the square heavily controlled, we saw military vehicles and police stationed along the route. ![]()
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