A GRAND
flag-raising ceremony would be held at the square in front of the Citizens’ Center on the morning of Oct. 1 to celebrate China’s
National Day, a government source said.
The national anthem will be played as the
five-star red national flag is raised at 7:30 a.m., marking the 55th
anniversary of the founding of the People’s
Republic of China.
“It will be the largest flag-raising ceremony in
the history of Shenzhen, and it will be the first time citizens will be allowed
to closely witness the scene,” a government official said.
“About 1,000 people from different walks of life
in Shenzhen have been organized to attend the ceremony,” he
said.
The ceremony will be performed by a national flag
guard under the local armed police contingent.
The team, which was set up in 2002, now has 86
members who have undergone strict professional training.
.Tiananmen Square,
several thousand residents and travelers from other provinces are expected to
witness a flag-raising ceremony in BeijingOn the morning of National Day in
.ChinaEmbraced widely by Chinese as a means to express
their love and respect for the motherland, flag-raising ceremonies will also be
held in many other places across
National Day Holiday ＇Golden＇ for
Tourism Industry
The week long National Day holiday has witnessed
some 90 million tourists travelling across the country, a record high since the
first "Golden Week＇＇ holiday in 2000.
The mass movement brought 34.6 billion yuan
(US$4.2 billion) worth of income to shops, restaurants, hotels, scenic spots
and various businesses related to the tourist industry, which were hit hard by
the outbreak of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) earlier this year.
The tourist arrivals nationwide from October 1 to
7 jumped by 11.5 per cent over the same period last year, with their spending
up 13.1 per cent, the National Tourism Administration announced Wednesday.
Air carriers have benefitted greatly from the
travel boom, with 1.65 billion yuan (US$200 million) in volume reported during
the week, up 29.9 per cent year on year. The railways also took a pleasing
share with over 1 billion yuan (US$128 million) worth of fares, up 6 per cent.
The gain is also an all-time high since the State
authority began to launch week long holidays, known as Golden Week, in the
International Day of Labour in May and the National Day in October every year
since 2000.
Figures from 136 major retailers in 31 key tourist
cities across the country revealed that 2.96 billion yuan (US$357 million) in
sales volume was generated during the Golden Week, up 18.9 per cent year on
year.
As well, 140 restaurant enterprises reported 220
million yuan (US$26.5 million) worth of income, up 17.1 per cent, according to
the administration.