{"id":17,"date":"2007-10-01T23:14:32","date_gmt":"2007-10-01T15:14:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mdnphoto.com\/visionsofmodernity\/2007\/10\/01\/stormy-national-day\/"},"modified":"2007-10-01T23:14:32","modified_gmt":"2007-10-01T15:14:32","slug":"stormy-national-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/2007\/10\/01\/stormy-national-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Vivaciously Celebrate National Day"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/20071001_vivacious_national_day002.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-99\" title=\"Two patriots escape the rain in an underpass\" src=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/20071001_vivacious_national_day002.jpg\" alt=\"Two patriots escape the rain in an underpass\" width=\"950\" height=\"633\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div id=\"paragraph\">\n<p>Only those of true revolutionary spirit braved the elements to witness the Chinese flag hoisted above Tiananmen Square at dawn this National Day. Not many survived the long night of revelry to diligently stand at attention on the hallowed ground where Mao founded the People\u2019s Republic of China and was finally laid to rest in his oversize mausoleum. Fallen patriots who succumbed to the cold rain lay scattered about underground walkways leading up to Tiananmen while running dogs of capitalism bustled about hawking their overpriced umbrellas and ponchos to the shivering masses. Luckily I came prepared in my windbreaker and marched resolutely into the square after tucking in a plate of steamed buns at Qianmen.<\/p>\n<p>Jockeying for position close to the flagpole proved difficult when police officers cordoned off various sections of the square devoted to massive billboards displaying nationalistic slogans such as, \u201cVivaciously celebrate the 58th anniversary of the establishment of the People&#8217;s Republic of China!\u201d or, \u201cSteadfastly hold to the great path of China&#8217;s unique social ideology!\u201d Nonetheless, the assembled revolutionaries seemed more concerned with the persistent umbrella battle raging amongst those packed closest to the front \u2013 many were martyred on spiked parasols wielded by tiny ladies repelling the ceaseless tide of bodies cramming for a closer glimpse of the ceremony. The sea of umbrellas only receded when the stirring drum overture of the Chinese national anthem called the crowd to attention. Everyone then raised their mobile phones to solute the flag and capture the special moment as \u201cMarch of the Volunteers\u201d resounded throughout Tiananmen.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Arise,<br \/>\nYe who refuse to be slaves!<br \/>\nWith our very flesh and blood,<br \/>\nLet us build our new Great Wall!<br \/>\nThe peoples of China are in the most critical time,<br \/>\nEverybody must roar his defiance.<br \/>\nArise!<br \/>\nArise!<br \/>\nArise!<br \/>\nMillions of hearts with one mind,<br \/>\nBrave the enemy&#8217;s gunfire, March on!<br \/>\nBrave the enemy&#8217;s gunfire, March on!<br \/>\nMarch on!<br \/>\nMarch on!<br \/>\nOn!<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The spirited lyrics of the song struck a deep chord in the audience. Seconds after the final note everyone marched straight to the exit. I remained to pay respect to Mao\u2019s portrait looming over the entrance of the Forbidden City &#8211; it\u2019s pastel background reflecting the soft hues of the rising sun.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/20071001_vivacious_national_day001.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-98\" title=\"Umbrellas crowd Tiananmen Square for the flag raising\" src=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/20071001_vivacious_national_day001.jpg\" alt=\"Umbrellas crowd Tiananmen Square for the flag raising\" width=\"950\" height=\"633\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Only those of true revolutionary spirit braved the elements to witness the Chinese flag hoisted above Tiananmen Square at dawn this National Day. Not many survived the long night of revelry to diligently stand at attention on the hallowed ground where Mao founded the People\u2019s Republic of China and was finally laid to rest in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[39,79,205,289,397],"class_list":["post-17","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-society_category","tag-beijing","tag-china","tag-holidays","tag-nationalism","tag-tiananmen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}