Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
In the underground passageway, there were different dialects from the tourists all around them; there was even a portion that were golden-haired and blue-eyed. It was obvious that they were all there to watch the flag raising ceremony. Most of them wore ordinary clothing, but there were also people who wore traditional costumes, including the Han costume. There were young couples, and middle-aged, married couples. Some were holding onto elderly people, some were carrying young infants, and some were even wearing hospital clothes. It was probably that, even though they were there in the capital to treat their illness, they wanted to fulfill their dream of witnessing the flag raising ceremony.
Seeing the scene in front of them, Fina was starting to have its misgivings. It did not have much interest in flag raising… They were just raising a flag up a flagpole. What was there to see?
“This… This is the most famous parade square in the world?”
“This is China’s ancient Imperial City?”
“Ga ga! How big! How white!”
After they walked through the underground passageway and reached the parade square, all the elfins were stunned. They had never seen such a large parade square before, and a person standing on it was very unassuming.
The red glazed top of the roof was located on the central axis of the capital. There were no especially tall buildings nearby, and the parade square served as a foil to make everything around it seem short, but stable.
Famous was reminded of Berlin’s victory memorial pillar by the cloud patterns that looked like wings on the white marble; however, it was not the goddess of victory sitting above the ornamental columns. Instead, it was an exotic stone beast that was both like a lion and a unicorn.
It was the first time that Fina had seen the ancient Imperial City, and compared to the palace in ancient Egypt, China’s olden architectural style was not extravagant or beautiful. Instead, it was full of dignity and solemnity. It did not need to use skillful craftsmanship to prove anything, but it instead used vast space to display the sense of vastness and richness.
Old Time Tea looked at the city buildings filled with historical ups and downs and whispered, “This was where the sad Qin and Han Dynasty was governed from. The tens of thousands of rooms of the Imperial Palace were made into dirt…”
The rest of the elfins did not have such deep feelings, but they were certainly shocked by the magnificence of the parade square.
Zhang Zian signaled with his eyes for them to be quiet; he did not want armed police all over the square to hear cats barking and dogs barking and birds singing. He followed Richard’s line of sight to see what was so white… As a result, he saw that someone had brought a steamed bun.
In the early morning, the lights in the parade square had yet to entirely diminish. The sky was still cloudy and greyish in color––not as dark as it had been when they had set out.
The tourists were all stretching their necks and trying their hardest to squeeze in front––they wanted to get the best position before the flag raising began. They squeezed so hard they almost squeezed their feces out. Zhang Zian did not attempt to squeeze to the front; instead, he chose a relaxed position that was quite far away, but had less people.
Even though it was not any special occasion, and was not some public holiday, there were still a great number of tourists there to see the flag raising ceremony.
The tourists were chatting in muted tones, looking to the east, waiting for the moment the sun rose.
The time was roughly 5:30 in the morning.
“It’s coming! It’s coming! It’s going to start!” someone shouted in a low voice.
Zhang Zian tiptoed and looked over everyone’s heads, seeing the honor guards of the three armed services appear. Their steel guns were arranged neatly on their shoulders as they crossed the Jinshui Bridge full of manliness and with high spirits. The lines were very straight, horizontally and vertically, like tofu that had been cut by a knife. The honor guards of the three armed services gathered so quickly that very few tourists noticed when they appeared.
“Ga ga! They’re all handsome men!” Richard directly jumped onto Zhang Zian’s head and opened his eyes wide to look towards the stage.
“What did you think? They’re called the top day regiment in Asia!” Zhang Zian said. “If you dare to sh*t on me, I’ll beat you until you sh*t!”
The honor guards of the three armed services were of similar height and body shape; their expressions were proper and strict, and their movements synchronized. It was almost like they had all been carved to look the same.
The tourists started the squeeze forward even more. If it were not for the fact that there were railings in front to stop them and that there were armed policemen watching, the tourists probably would have rushed to directly below the flagpole to look at them in close proximity.
There were short people and tall people, and some came early while some came late. The taller people in the front were blocking everyone else’s view, and to get a better view, they even stood on their tiptoes. That made it even harder for the people in the back to see clearly, so many people raised their phones up high, recording the scene with their phones so they could watch it whenever they wanted.
The smart people had come with selfie-sticks so they could raise their phones even higher.
There was even a young girl who was seated on her boyfriend’s shoulders to see things clearly… Eh, that’s cheating! The boyfriend was willing to be a cow for his girlfriend. He did not mind that he could not see, as long as his girlfriend’s wishes were fulfilled.
“How did they make it so neat?” Fina asked, confused.
“They practiced. They trained in all sorts of weather, whether it was the hottest days in summer or the coldest days in winter. Right, it would be better if the honor guards are followed by the military band, which happens during special festivals. Those are even better looking,” Zhang Zian answered.
Old Time Tea looked around and asked, “Zian, everyone is filming. Aren’t you going to use your phone to film it?”
Zhang Zian shrugged and answered, “Flag raising is for people to look at, not for people to film. It’ll be enough to use my eyes to remember it.”
Old Time Tea stopped for a while, not understanding what he meant.
The honor guards of the three armed forces marched towards the flagpole, and then separated at the bottom like a pair of goose wings. They stood straight on the right and left side of the flagpole. Only three people that were holding the flag walked up to the flagpole, and then hung the flag up properly.
When the national anthem played, the flag-raiser pressed a button, raising the national flag up high. At the same time, the honor guards of the three armed forces saluted.
The cold morning wind blew the flag, making its surface ripple like water.
As the tourists’ heads and mobile phones were raised slowly along with the national flag, the noise of conversation still resounded, and some people were still laughing. It was difficult to hear the accompaniment of the National Anthem from far away.
At that moment, childish voices suddenly sounded in the corner of the square. A group of pupils who were carrying out their patriotic education also came to visit the flag raising ceremony. The teacher who led the team was afraid that they might be injured from being squeezed. Instead of pushing them forward, he stood at another corner, not far from Zhang Zian. The group of pupils might have come from other places. They wore bright red scarves on their chests and had strong accents from another part of the country. Under the leadership and organization of teachers, they sang the national anthem with children’s voices that were not in line with the rhythm of the song.
The noise from the tourists stopped.
After attracting the attention of the public, the group of pupils were very embarrassed. They sang even more out of tune and, and a few shy little girls bowed their heads and played with their clothes, feeling inferior due to their accents.
However, much their teachers tried their best to encourage them––to push them on––but their voices became lower and lower and messier and messier.
“Arise! You who refuse to be slaves! With our very flesh and blood, let us build our new Great Wall!”
Zhang Zian, who was standing nearby, stared at them quietly, before he suddenly opened his mouth and sang the national anthem with them. He was an adult, after all, and his voice was loud, so it immediately attracted the attention of the group of primary school children and even more people.
He was ordinarily dressed, and he was standing close to the primary school children, so the tourists thought that he was one of the teachers, while the teachers of the primary school children thought he was an ordinary tourist.
Zhang Zian’s voice was often mocked for being very out of tune, and so he normally did not really sing. Now, however, he was singing like there was no one around him. Surprisingly, nobody was mocking him, and nobody said that his voice was horrible.
“The people of China are at their most critical time! Everybody is forced to make their last roar in defiance!”
The pupils were encouraged by his physical exertion, and they soon got rid of their shyness. They raised their heads and continued to sing. Several boys who were normally very naughty were shouting hoarsely at each other, which made the teachers look at them in a different light.
“Get up! Get up! Get up!”
More tourists put down their phones and sang loudly with them.
There was no one looking at Zhang Zian anymore, and there was no one looking at the group of primary school children anymore. Everyone’s gaze was focused only on the five stars red flag that was slowly rising.
There were different kinds of accents––even some voices that sounded like unfamiliar Chinese. All the voices merged together, resounding in the air of the parade square, and any other little noise was drowned out by the raging national anthem.
“Many hearts, with one mind. Brave the enemy’s gunfire––march on! Brave the enemy’s gunfire––march on! March on! March on––on!”
