Thursday 1st October saw the 60th Anniversary of the CPCC. Celebrated by a huge demonstration of military might. Soldiers from all 3 services (both men and women), Anti-aircraft missile launchers, Tanks, Truck mounted nukes, and all sorts of heavy military machines made their way into Tiananmen Square. Hu Jintao arrived in his Hu-Mobile with his special number plate, made his speech and adopted many posses ¨C smiling, looking stern, waving while watching the procession. After the military had passed through, the common people had their chance. People from all provinces and all 56 ethnic minorities were represented, parading along and waving various things. Different coloured Chinese style pompoms and hankies were used to great effect to create Chinese characters and pictures for those looking down from above.

What was particularly interesting to me was the live tweeting. I’m an avid fan of Twitter, and along with a few people I know in Dalian, and others in China the hastag #CPC60 took hold. From Twitter I heard from foreigners living in Beijing that people were not being allowed out of their houses because the streets were too busy. Various bits of cultural information came through that I hadn’t considered or didn’t know, and highlighted other aspects of the parade that were funny or insightful. Generally speaking I think Twitter is a good tool, and especially when a few good people are tweeting a live event, it can make it far more interesting.

Highlights of my tweets:

• Watching #CPC60 on CCTV1. Wonders if there’s English coverage abroad over Satellite or Cable. Think their march is quite funny. #
• #CPC60 3 Guys at front of parade seem to be shouting in very high voices…. why? #
• #CPC60 High pitch that is… not as in loud. #
• #CPC60 Chinese national anthem! Very patriotic. Seem to be only hearing Choir on TV, not the army singing it. #
• #CPC60 RT @MalcolmMoore: [Western journalists] only received their media passes to the event at midnight last night. Organisation fail.#
• @aimeenbarnes Might have coverage in UK… but its the middle of the night there, so doubt many are watching. Just seen the Mao/Hu-mobile in reply to aimeenbarnes #
• #CPC60 Driver of Hu-Mobile has got lines painted on the ground of tiananmen for him to follow. #
• @1rick #CPC60 Very good! in reply to 1rick #
• #CPC60 Why do the Woman Army get the Bright red uniforms? #
• @AlexBowman Do you think the anti-aircraft missile vehicles get special number plates too? in reply to AlexBowman #
• RT @pdenlinger Beijing Weather Bureau says there are low clouds west of BJ which will be intercepted. -> Aircraft with SEEDING Stuff. #
• @AlexBowman #CPC60 I’m sure a few of the British Red Uniforms were unnecessarily visible. in reply to AlexBowman #
• #CPC60 There was an odd White uniform at the end of one of the ranks. #
• RT @MalcolmMoore Anyone who wants to watch over the internet, try here http://bit.ly/A2xL5 #
• #CPC60 Now watching CCTV9. Is it live translation or is she reading a script that they’ve pre-arranged? #
• #CPC60 White Green and Blue = Navy Army and Airforce. #
• #CPC60 Dalian Naval forces featured on tv coverage. #
• RT @AlexBowman: Marching in squares is very effective against cavalry. #CPC60 #
• #CPC60 There goes the “Woman’s Militia Square Army”. Fly bys next it seems. #
• @AlexBowman Yea. Got that, having switched over from CCTV1 to 9. in reply to AlexBowman #
• #CPC60 CCTV9 Presenter highlighting the “computer aided” and advantages of different tanks. #
• RT @chijs The tanks are back on Tiananmen Square #
• @PerrineB @samflemming All the @DalianDalian ers are using #CPC60 #
• RT @MalcolmMoore: RT @skycita: Live Blogging China’s National Day Parade – China Journal – WSJ http://bit.ly/4bM2EN #
• @edgemy Thank you for the Follow Recommendation. in reply to edgemy #
• Think the AA Vehicles, Cruise Missiles and Support Radar stuff is quite impressive. I guess thats the point. #CPC60 #
• #CPC60 They’ve got the Neucs out. S**t #
• People’s reactions to the #CPC60 NUKES were all the same. -> NUKES!!!! #
• Presenter Speaking up the Chinese Tech and Designed Airplanes. #CPC60 #
• @joop #CPC60 China showing off #Shenyang #Liaoning airplanes, almost as old as the #PRC #
• OOOH 18 Zeeee 9s #CPC60 American Accents Ahoy! #
• @siweiluozi #CPC60 @ednacz @AlisonMFriedman @quelquefois seem to be exceptions to the 4 year old boy demographic you were speaking of. in reply to siweiluozi #
• #CPC60 Soldiers shouting in time to the Band. Sadly no translations on CCTV9. #
• #CPC60 Chinese Cheerleaders out in force walking ahead of float. #
• #CPC60 Which do you think they spent more money for? A. Opening Olympics/ B. Closing Olympics/ C.National Day Parade #
• #CPC60 Mao’s voice broadcast over crowd! #
• #CPC60 Migrant Labour workers parading along. #
• #CPC60 Farmers Dancing along. Looking quite fancy really. Shots of Lao Wais on the TV looking happy. #
• #CPC60 Deng XIiao Ping waxwork float going along. #
• @lauter #CPC60 WSJ http://bit.ly/4bM2EN CCTV9 online http://bit.ly/A2xL5 #
• RT @aimeenbarnes Do you think anyone in the White House is watching this right now? #cpc60 #
• #CPC60 I have a short attention span. Feeling that TV coverage of Parade is getting a little tiresome. #
• #CPC60 Olympic float floating by and theme song “you and me” playing. #
• RT @illuminantceo My apartment complex is still not allowing foreigners to leave the grounds. #