【AP】China holds National Day rehearsal parade

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China holds National Day rehearsal parade
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090828/ap_on_re_as/as_china_anniversary

By TINI TRAN, Associated Press Writer Tini Tran, Associated Press Writer – Fri Aug 28, 3:59 pm ET

BEIJING – Beijing closed down its streets overnight Friday in the heart of the city near Tiananmen Square as tens of thousands of people joined in the first dress rehearsal for China's 60th anniversary parade.

On Oct. 1, the People's Republic of China celebrates six decades since its founding. The first full-fledged rehearsal was held overnight for hours along Chang An Avenue, the major boulevard that runs in front of the Forbidden City.

Chanting loudly, a massive procession of participants, holding aloft banners and balloons, flooded the central Avenue of Eternal Peace for a full kilometer, moving in giant orderly formations.

From 11 p.m. local time until dawn Saturday, police had blocked off streets surrounding the area and cleared roads of cars and people. Hundreds of passenger buses lined up in the middle of the street and disgorged thousands of performers onto the boulevard.

Some were dressed in matching colored T-shirts, caps, and shorts, while students in uniforms were carrying pink and yellow pompoms or red rings. Marching in groups, the performers slowly made their way toward Tiananmen Square, where this fall's celebration will begin.

Few details have been given out on the schedule for the celebrations, but a keynote address from President Hu Jintao is expected, followed by an elaborate military parade and performances involving 200,000 people, 60 floats and fireworks.

Like most official party events, the National Day festivities are expected to be tightly choreographed spectacles, with this one centering on a huge parade. The events are a way for the leadership to show off to the world and its people the country's might and prosperity.

The secrecy surrounding the proceedings required hotels along the main avenue to keep guests sequestered inside as parade preparations were underway.

The parade is intended to highlight accomplishments China has made in its defense sector during the past six decades. But during the overnight drill, troops and military hardware that Beijing plans to showcase in October were not in evidence.


Beijing has said it plans to show off much of its latest-generation weaponry and reports say the military aspect of the parade will feature entirely homegrown weaponry, highlighting China's rising capabilities in designing and manufacturing military hardware.

Much of that weaponry has been developed in the decade since the last military parade in 1999, underscoring the results of nearly two-decades of annual double-digit percentage increases in the defense budget.

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