Composition clip of the National Day military parade float

My thoughts on witnessing the National Day Military Parade with my own eyes

On the evening of September 18, I had the honor to go to Tiananmen Square as an audience to watch the fourth and final rehearsal of the National Day Military Parade. Since I was sitting in row 01 of the temporary viewing platform, I was able to witness the soldiers, chariots, masses and floats at a close distance. The overall impression is that it is magnificent and spectacular, but too serious and not lively enough.

Nearly 20 infantry phalanxes and 30 chariot phalanxes passed and rumbled in front of us, and it felt like an indestructible torrent rushing forward. In particular, the legs of countless pairs of female soldiers wearing short skirts and white stockings fell to the ground together, just like computer-designed animations. There are also all kinds of light and heavy equipment and weapons, which make people feel the characteristics, majesty and power of a big country. As a Chinese, this sight without exception arouses a sense of national pride.

However, the hour-long parade of crowds and floats was somewhat serious. It seems that organizers and participants are pursuing uniformity. The costumes of the participants are the same (of course each square has a different style), the props (bouquets, etc.) are the same, and the movements are the same. Without exception, they all move in neat steps.

Uniformity of the army is absolutely necessary and necessary. The neatness of appearance and movements cannot be overemphasized, because the army requires discipline. If it can't keep its movements neat when being read, how can you expect it to obey orders and charge into battle during battle? However, mass parades and float displays should emphasize the festive atmosphere and joyful and peaceful scenes. There seems to be no need to emphasize uniformity. I paid attention to the people participating in the parade. Most of them had serious faces and did not look very festive. Maybe they were too tired from rehearsing again and again.

In fact, mass demonstrations can reflect more of the "mass" characteristics, that is, liveliness and creativity. The liveliness and creativity of the masses can better demonstrate the strength of a country, the soft power of the country, and convey the good image of China and the Communist Party of China to the outside world. Of course, among the numerous mass phalanxes today, the activity of two phalanxes deserves praise, namely the university phalanx and the sports phalanx. In the university square, people held the flags of various universities and waved them randomly. In the sports square, cyclists and roller skaters advanced in an S line.

Sitting on the viewing platform, I remembered the National Day military parade and parade 25 years ago. 25 years ago it was 1984. That was the first military parade and march after the reform and opening up, and this year is the third (the last time was 1999). Twenty-five years ago, I was a teenage Peking University student and participated in the parade as a member of the Peking University phalanx. At that time, I also practiced walking in the scorching sun every day. In order to get a feel for it, I was even taken to an airport runway in Tong County (today's Tongzhou) to practice, and I went to Tiananmen Square several times for rehearsals. But on the National Day, all the other phalanxes were marching as required, but Peking University's phalanx "got into chaos" as soon as it arrived in front of Tiananmen Square. Instead of walking in front of Tiananmen Square, everyone cheered and gathered in the direction of Jinshui Bridge. There were a few restless people who put out slogans "Hello, Xiaoping" that they had secretly prepared in advance. I am an honest and kind person, and I was worried that the team would be in disarray, which would give people a bad impression, and I would be criticized after returning to school. But that night I heard people watching the TV broadcast saying good things about us, saying that this is what college students should be like. Those few people who put up slogans made history. Just think about it, if Peking University students had the same duties as other college students, the history of "Hello, Xiaoping" would not exist.

Coincidentally, today, 25 years later, my next generation, my son, a junior high school student named Zhong Wangnan, is also in Tiananmen Square. He is in the background, "translating characters" in the square. Together with tens of thousands of students of his age, he formed huge slogans in Chinese characters by flipping props above his head in the square. The training they received was also uniform and strict.