50th anniversary of the People's Republic of China

Coordinates: 39°54′26.4″N 116°23′27.9″E / 39.907333°N 116.391083°E / 39.907333; 116.391083
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50th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China
庆祝中华人民共和国成立50周年活动
Type 98 tanks on parade
GenreMilitary parade, mass pageant, music and dance gala
Date(s)1 October 1999
FrequencySelect years[A]
Location(s)Chang'an Avenue, Tiananmen Square, Beijing, China
Coordinates39°54′26.4″N 116°23′27.9″E / 39.907333°N 116.391083°E / 39.907333; 116.391083
Years active74
Inaugurated1 October 1949 (1949-10-01)
Previous event40th anniversary of the People's Republic of China
Next event60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China
ParticipantsNational leaders, PLA, PAP, the Militia, and other formations
LeaderJiang Zemin (general secretary and chairman)
PeopleLi Xinliang (chief commander of the military parade)

The 50th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China took place on 1 October 1999.[2][3] A military parade was held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing and various celebrations were conducted all over the country. China's paramount leader Jiang Zemin inspected the troops along Chang'an Avenue in Beijing. This parade was immediately followed by a civilian parade.

It was the first one to be held since 1984 since the 1989 parade celebrating the 40th anniversary was cancelled due to the Tiananmen Square protests. Known as the Chinese Army's Trans-Century Parade due to 1 October 1999 being months away from the turn of the 21st century, it was commanded by the Commander of Beijing Military Region Li Xinliang and inspected by then-Chairman of the Central Military Commission and General Secretary of the CCP Jiang Zemin. It was the first time that the sole Chinese leader (who served as party leader, head of state and Commander-in-Chief by this time) had inspected the parade. It was also the first time that the national flag was raised before the parade began. 42 divisions (formations) took part in this parade: 17 from the ground column and 25 from the mobile column.

Broadcast[edit]

China Central Television and Beijing Television was responsible for the live broadcast of the National Day celebrations military parade from 8:30 a.m. (CST) to noon, on CCTV-1, CCTV-4 and CCTV HDTV test channel

China National Radio provided live audio coverage throughout mainland China

And "Xinwen Lianbo" anchors Xing Zhibin and Luo Jing served as commentators

Prelude[edit]

At 9:58 a.m., Jiang Zemin, Li Peng, Zhu Rongji, Li Ruihuan, Hu Jintao, Wei Jianxing, Li Lanqing and other party and state leaders came and stood atop Tiananmen amidst the welcome music.

At 10 a.m., Jia Qinglin as the Beijing municipal Communist Party Secretary was the master of ceremonies for the event., announced the begin of the "Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China". A 50-gun salute was fired, and 200 National Flag Guard of the Armed Police walked down from the Monument to the People's Heroes, passing the portrait of Sun Yat-sen and walked along the central axis to the flag-raising area. The Chinese People's Liberation Army Joint Military Band (中国人民解放军联合军乐团) composed of more than 1,100 people played the "National Anthem of the People's Republic of China", and the audience sang in unison. The Five-star red flag was rising and flying high over the square

Inspection[edit]

At 10:07 a.m. Jiang Zemin inspected the troops standing onto a Hongqi CA772TJ limousine with a license 申A 02156. drove out of Tiananmen Gate.

General Li Xinliang, chief commander of the military parade and commander of the Beijing Military Region, took a review car from the East Red Wall to the Jinshui Bridge, and went forward to report to President Jiang Zemin:

"Comrade Chairman, the troops under review are ready. Please review them!"

"Start!" President Jiang Zemin issued an order. Following an order, more than 1,000 military band members played "Troops Review March of the PLA"

At 10:08 a.m. the review vehicle drove up to the parade line and drove slowly from west to east. Jiang Zemin reviewed the troops accompanied by Li Xinliang. ground force formations, navy formations, air force formations and militia formations stands on Chang'an Avenue. The inspection cars passed by one after another

The inspection cars drove past the troops, and the officers and soldiers under review show respect to President Jiang Zemin. The reviewing car passed by the tanks, missiles and artillery painted with camouflage

After reviewing the troops, President Jiang Zemin returned to the Tiananmen and delivered a speech.

Military Parade[edit]

Military vehicles were shown in the celebration of the 50th anniversary.

At 10:36 a.m. Lt.Gen. Chen Xitao announced the start of the Military Parade

List of participating divisions in the parade

In order of appearance (An italic unit indicates that this is its first appearance)

List of military vehicles paraded

The equipment are listed in the order of appearance, with new appearances in italics:

List of military aircraft paraded

Armored forces and artillery accounted for 70% of the parade while the airborne portion was increased to 10%.

Grand pageant (Mass pageant)[edit]

After the military parade ended, mass pageant began. The mass pegeant consisted of three themes, namely "Founding of the Country and Entrepreneurship", "Reform and Glory", and "Century of Soaring". A total of more than 100,000 people and 91 floats participated in the parade.

Military bands and parade music[edit]

Military bands in attendance[edit]

A 1,100 piece band was present for the musical accompaniment to the parade. The bands were organized as follows:

Music[edit]

Flag raising, military parade, drive-by, and flyby
  1. Welcome March (欢迎进行曲)
  2. March of the Volunteers (National Anthem of the People's Republic of China) (义勇军进行曲)
  3. Military Anthem of the People's Liberation Army (中国人民解放军进行曲)
  4. Troops Review March of the PLA (Inspection March of the PLA) (检阅进行曲)
  5. The People's Army is Loyal to the Party (人民军队忠于党)
  6. Three Rules of Discipline and Eight Points for Attention (三大纪律八项注意)
  7. Military Academy Song (军校之歌)
  8. A Soldier of the People (当兵的人)
  9. Parade March of the People's Liberation Army (分列式进行曲)
  10. March of Armored Vehicles (战车进行曲)
  11. March of the Motorized Troops (摩托化部队进行曲)
  12. March of the Artillery Force (炮兵进行曲)
  13. People's Navy, Marches Forward (人民海军向前进)
  14. Rocket Forces March (火箭部队进行曲)
  15. March of the PLA Air Force (中国空军进行曲)
Civilian parade
  1. Ode to the motherland (歌唱祖国)
  2. On the Great Road (我们走在大路上)
  3. Without the Communist Party, There Would Be No New China (没有共产党就没有新中国)
  4. Story of Spring (春天的故事)
  5. On the Field of Hope (在希望的田野上)
  6. We Workers Have Strength (咱们工人有力量)
  7. Song of the Yangtze (长江之歌)
  8. Good Day (好日子)
  9. Singing and Dancing People (载歌载舞的人们)
  10. Under the Five Rings (五環旗下)
  11. China, China, the Bright Red Sun Never Sets (中国, 中国, 鲜红的太阳永不落)
  12. Into the New Era (走进新时代)
  13. Love My China (爱我中华)
  14. Anthem of the Young Pioneers of China (中国少年先锋队队歌)
  15. Seven-color Light (七色光)

Card sequence slogans[edit]

More than 100,000 teenagers held bouquets and flipped cards in the square, transforming into a variety of characters and patterns

List of card sequence slogans[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ 新中国历次大阅兵 [New China's previous grand military parades]. Chinese government web. Xinhua News Agency. 21 August 2009. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  2. ^ Faison, Seth (October 1999). "A HALF-CENTURY IN CHINA: THE CELEBRATION; A Day of Joy and Jubilation, All Very Carefully Staged". The New York Times.
  3. ^ "阅兵·档案 | 1999年国庆阅兵:四大军兵种导弹同时亮相 – 中国军网".

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Since the founding of the people's republic until 2009, the country has held 14 National Day grand military parades in 1949–1959, 1984, 1999, and 2009.[1]

Videos[edit]