First of all, for any of you still unaware, our beloved People's Republic turns a whopping 60 years old next week! I'm not sure what kind of press coverage this thing is getting in the West, but the rehearsals and preparation going on here have been massive. In jubilant anticipation of the glorious event, Beijing has outfitted its subways with anti-explosive containers, forcedallowed hundreds of thousands of its citizens and soldiers to spend the last 3-6 months in intensive parade and performance rehersals, and banned the sale of kitchen knives, the flying of kites or pigeons, and all new foreign visas for Tibet. Happy Birthday China!
I've heard and read various stories from participants in the rehearsals, and it all sounds pretty brutal. One guy told me about a Beijing family he stayed with who's 8-year-old daughter was out until 5am at rehearsals. And they've hired mental consultants for the military participants in order to cope with the rigorous training. From Xinhua News:
"It is considered part of the normal life of hundreds of soldiers who are to take part in the military parade to stand straight and steady for an hour or not blink for 40 seconds.
For military vehicle drivers, they have to operate in a temperature as high as 60 [140 degrees Fahrenheit] degrees Celsius for hours of practice as air conditioners may affect the uniformity of vehicles."
The parade will take place on October 1st, and we might very well be in for an even bigger show than the Olympics last year. So I definitley suggest you snuggle down with some Chinese take out and watch the madness ensue.
Due to the super lame nature of my blog site (the URL should read blogr.GLITCH.com) I'm having an impossible time embedding any links. So here are a few, old school style:
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/09/china_prepares_for_its_60th_an.html
http://www.chinasmack.com/pictures/training-chinese-army-60th-national-day-parade/
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