A magnificent display of fireworks illuminated the Chinese capital’s night sky with over 60,000 people dancing to the tunes of patriotic songs at the historic Tiananmen Square, marking the special evening celebrations on the occasion of the country’s 60th National Day.
The fireworks, designed by renowned artist Cai Guoqiang who was behind the stunning pyrotechnics at Beijing Olympic’s opening ceremony, dazzled the night with a special three-dimensional display, a first in China.
The splendid fireworks display, considered one of the biggest in China’s history, surpassed last year’s Olympic ceremony, with designs of mountains, rivers and smiling faces appearing on the sky.
The special 3-D display described as a “technical breakthrough” by the organisers used 300,000 shells of fireworks during an over 30-minute show in an unprecedented event.
Earlier this month, the Beijing Daily had quoted pyrotechnist Ding Zhenkuan as saying that the display would nearly double the number of shells into the sky fired at the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony last August.
Complementing it on the ground, about 60,000 people danced to songs, like ‘I Love China,’ ‘Our motherland is a garden’ and ‘A-Li Mountain Girls’, watched by President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao among other leaders of the Communist Party of China.
About 4,000 performers, positioned at the centre of the Square, formed “light cubic” formations or light patterns with bouquets and electric devices.
Marking the culmination of the celebrations, Mr. Hu, along with others party leaders, joined thousands of celebrating people at the centre of the Square.
Telecast live by China’s television networks, the evening party was the culmination of the National Day festivities that started with the country unveiling its military might by parading new generation battle tanks and long-range cruise missiles.
The country went on a holiday mode with an eight-day national vacation, with thousands of Chinese heading to famous tourist destinations.
