60 years marks a complete Chinese zodiac cycle with each element (metal, air, fire, earth, water) and the Chinese celebrate it in the grandest way possible on a personal scale, this time the nation celebrated it in excess.
I still can’t quite comprehend the scale of the event coming from a tiny country, although I finally understand the whole importance of pride and face “面子”. The parade involved alot of flexing of military muscles, showcasing their latest nuclear weapons, missiles, tanks, helicopters, fighter jets and sheer size of the population. I actually haven’t heard a parade commentary with so many repetitions of the word “war”… scarey.
Speaking of tanks, they’ve been rolling out on the road, right outside the window, very reminiscent of communist films that I have seen. I was thrilled and petrified at the same time (you can tell from my excitement with the shakey capture of the tanks), being a sterile Singaporean.
Just when I thought that I grew up in a land of prohibitions, laws and more rules, all the traffic restrictions in the past weeks, great firewall of China etc more than demonstrates control in every sense of the word—certainly no other country in the world can manage the same on such a mammoth scale.
Tanks in Beijing from Juliana Loh on Vimeo.
And here is an amazing video by Guardian photographer Dan Chung.
China’s 60th Anniversary national day – timelapse and slow motion – 7D and 5DmkII from Dan Chung on Vimeo.
While pompous exhibition of might is taking place over here, hope the Indonesians are coping okay with the recent quake.
