From China's easternmost border post to the South China Sea, to a peacekeeping camp in South Sudan, Chinese service members held flag-raising ceremonies on Thursday morning to mark the 77th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
China's National Day, which falls on October 1 every year, often sees flag-raising ritual performed by the country's service members.
At the Dongji Outpost on the Heixiazi Island in Fuyuan, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, officers and soldiers held a flag-raising ceremony in the first rays of sunlight. The sun rises earliest in Dongji in China, so the flag raised at the outpost is the first to greet the day.
"The national flag raised at Dongji is the motherland's first national flag of the day. Here, we are guarding the motherland's eastern gate," said Yang Jie, a border soldier.
Also on Thursday, the Hong Kong Garrison of the Chinese People's Liberation Army held a flag-raising ceremony at a local military dock.
Representatives of the army, navy and air force stood in neat formation and saluted the flag solemnly, as family members of service personnel joined the troops in singing the national anthem.
In Sansha, China's southernmost island city in Hainan Province, service members and residents on the Yongxing Island gathered at a square early Thursday for the National Day flag-raising ceremony.
"Guarding the island is guarding our home while guarding the sea is defending our country. We will take root on the island, hold fast to our posts, and protect the motherland's vast maritime territory," said Tong Nuo, an armed police soldier from a unit of the Haikou detachment of the Hainan Corps of the Chinese People's Armed Police Force.
As dawn broke over the mountain peaks, a border defense unit stationed at the foot of Tomur Peak of the Tianshan Mountains in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region also held a flag-raising ceremony.
"As a border defense soldier, I know the weight of the responsibility on my shoulders. I will hone my skills and guard the motherland's border with concrete actions," Si Xirui, a border defense soldier.
In waters near the Ren'ai Reef and Xianbin Reef of China's Nansha Islands in the South China Sea, a formation of the China Coast Guard held a solemn flag-raising ceremony on Thursday morning. Coast Guard law enforcement officers stood in neat formation as the national flag fluttered in the wind.
Meanwhile, far from home, the 16th Chinese peacekeeping force to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan also held a grand flag-raising ceremony to mark the National Day.
Chinese service members mark National Day with flag-raising ceremonies
