Daily News Channel
Beijing prepared for massive celebrations on Thursday for the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. The capital was to witness a grand National Day military and mass parade as well as evening gala, according to state-run Xinhua news agency.
Soon after I first came to visit China in the autumn of 1971, I saw a contingent of militia soldiers doing marching drills in Tiananmen Square. I was told they were rehearsing for the annual National Day parade on October 1, which people eagerly awaited.