Under a sunny blue sky, Beijing on Thursday morning witnessed a grand military parade commemorating the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, and the rest of the country was also immersed in joy, with bitter memory of the hard-won victory against Japanese aggression.[Special coverage]
Chinese people enjoyed the parade in different ways. At 6 a.m., many people swarmed to areas behind road blocks near the parade venue to squeeze for a good view. Others watched live broadcast while joining in an online rally of forwarding pictures of the parade via social media.
Elnur, an English teacher of Uygur ethnic group in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang, said she was deeply impressed by veterans waving hands with tears in their eyes.
"They must be very proud of what they contributed to our country seven decades ago," she said.
Elnur watched TV while chatting via WeChat, a social media software on her cell phone, where she shared comments and pictures of the parade with her friends.
In Peking University in Beijing, although the new semester has not yet commenced, hundreds of students and teachers gathered in the canteen to watch live TV broadcast of the parade.
Lin Nan, a post-graduate student, said the parade gave Chinese people a sense of pride and security that the army has the prowess for safeguarding the country's interests.
However, she was more deeply impressed by President Xi Jinping's speech at the ceremony that no matter how much stronger it may become, China will never seek hegemony or expansion. It will never inflict its past suffering on any other nation.
The 11th Panchen Lama Bainqen Erdini Qoigyijabu said after watching the parade at Tian'anmen Square, that he feels proud of the country and calls for people to cherish the hard-won victory.
In central China' Hubei Province, a senior man asked his family to push his wheelchair to the front of the TV screen to allow his defected sight to watch the live TV broadcast.
The man Zhou Xiong, aged 106, is a well-known sharpshooter during China's war of resistance against Japanese aggression.
While watching TV, the veteran became emotional missing his fellow brothers who did not survive to see China's victory.
"I want to write a letter to express the gratitude of a veteran to hail for the country's military building. I am fortunate to see the country's prosperity and the troops becoming strong," he said.
Zhou, skilled with his right-hand shooting, had his right arms shot broken in war. After he rehabilitated, he practiced hard with his left hand for shooting, and soon became skillful again.
Over 100 representatives of veterans who fought against Japanese aggression army during the war joined the parade troops on Thursday.
More than 35 million Chinese people, both military and civilians, were killed or injured in the war, accounting for a third of the total casualties of all the countries involved in WWII.
President Xi said on Thursday the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, as part of the World Anti-Fascist War, "started the earliest and lasted the longest."
Watching arrays of China's home-made conventional and nuclear weaponry, over 2,000 overseas Chinese invited to the parade were filled with excitement and thrill. Many of them were relatives and offsprings of late Chinese generals.
Li Cuiying, widow of late Chinese general Zhan Daoliang, recently had a leg surgery. But she insisted attending the ceremony.
"I know my husband would have overcome any difficulties to attend the ceremony, if he could live to this day," she said.
Graduated from China's famous Whampoa Military Academy, general Zhan had fought in both air force and artillery troops. The war left 11 bullet wounds on his body, and one of his feet was injured. He died of illness in the U.S. last year.
Li said China's parade is making a strong statement that it is self-reliant and it has an independent military capability to develop on its own.
"China was invaded by foreign powers because it was weak and poor. Only a strong country can protect its own people," she said.
