Chinese people celebrate National Day with colorful activities

China

Chinese people celebrate National Day with colorful activities

2024-09-30 22:27 Last Updated At：10-01 05:27

Chinese people across the country have been celebrating the 75th founding anniversary of the People's Republic of China, which falls on October 1 when National Day is marked every year.

A festive ambiance is sweeping through China, with streets adorned with national flags and patriotic decorations in celebration of the day.

In picturesque Lijiang City of southwest China's Yunnan Province, the vibrant national flags stand out prominently among the wooden buildings with gray clay roof tiles.

In Shexian County of Huangshan City in east China's Anhui Province, vibrant potted flowers and red lanterns have imbued this historically rich county with a festive ambiance.

The streets of the ancient city of Kashgar in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region are adorned with national flags, symbolizing people's blessings for the motherland.

"People of all ethnic groups gather together to celebrate the 75th founding anniversary of the People's Republic of China. We should further strengthen a strong sense of the Chinese nation as one community. We should come together with a united purpose and make efforts to make our motherland more prosperous and strong," said Salamat Kari, a resident of Kashgar City.

Meanwhile, many festive activities including artistic performances, painting and calligraphy exhibition are being staged in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region.

"I deeply feel that we have made unprecedented progress in Xizang. All ethnic groups remain closely united like the seeds of a pomegranate. I believe our life will surely get better and better," said Nyima Phuntsog, a resident of Shigatse City.

A variety of colorful light shows have been staged in many places including Qingdao City in east China's Shandong Province, Shiyan City in central China's Hubei Province, Shijiazhuang City in north China's Hebei Province and Yibin City in southwest China's Sichuan Province, with skyscrapers being illuminated at night, creating a vibrant festive atmosphere for this meaningful day.

On Sunday evening, a grand piano concert was staged in Guangzhou City, the capital of southern China's Guangdong Province. The event gathered 100 piano performers and a chorus of over 1,000 people in singing songs in homage to their motherland.

"On the 75th founding anniversary of the People's Republic of China, I am overjoyed to participate in this activity and express my love for our motherland alongside so many others," said Huang Shengyang, a participant.

In Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, a variety of celebration events including dragon and lion dances and choral performances have also been staged to mark the anniversary.

China launches direct flight route linking Beijing, Helsinki

China launched the first direct flight route linking Beijing and the Finnish capital, Helsinki, at the Daxing International Airport on Sunday, marking the opening of a new air corridor between China and the Nordic region.

Operated by China Southern Airlines, the route will provide round-trip flights between the two capital cities three times per week, with services scaling up to daily operations in June.

"Since the opening of the new flight, passengers from 50 cities in China can travel conveniently from the Daxing International Airport to Finland and transfer to other locations in Europe. It will build an efficient and convenient air bridge for economic and trade cooperation, people-to-people exchanges and tourism collaboration between China and Finland, as well as between China and other Nordic countries," said Gu Mengjun, deputy general manager of the North China Marketing Center of China Southern Airlines Marketing Committee.

"[It] usually took me 12 hours to get to Beijing. Now. it's much shorter, and it's super convenient," said a traveler.

China has been Finland's largest trading partner in Asia for decades, while Finland ranks as China's third-largest trading partner in the Nordic region. Last year, bilateral trade reached 8.26 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 60 million U.S. dollars compared with the previous year.

"This is a great day of all of us. It will be connecting the capital of China to the northern Europe. It will help both ways, you will see more north Europeans coming to Beijing area. And at the same time, you will see people from north of China coming more to the north of Europe," said Petri Vuori, senior vice president of Finavia.

Sunday marks the start of the summer-autumn flight schedule for Chinese airlines, with major carriers adjusting and launching new domestic and international routes. The new flight season will run through October.

In addition to China Southern Airlines, Air China will resume a direct route from Beijing to India’s Delhi, while China Eastern Airlines plans to launch new services linking Shanghai with Tashkent, as well as Xi’an with Vienna.

According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China, more than 20,000 international flights will be operated each week during the new flight season, marking a 1.8 percent increase year on year. Experts say the expansion of the international flight network highlights China's continued commitment to high-level opening-up.