Photo Gallery A Nation Marching into the Future
China has celebrated the 60th anniversary of Communist rule with a huge military parade featuring hundreds of thousands of soldiers marching in lockstep, tanks, missiles and fighter jets.
A family in northeast China's Liaoning province watch the celebrations on television.
Women members of the militia, a civilian reserve force under China's military, march past Tiananmen Square during the military parade.
People's Liberation Army helicopters fly over downtown Beijing.
The Communist Party proudly presented its military achievements, such as these missiles.
The military reportedly spent one year practicing for the parade.
The Communist Party leadership applauds the parade from its vantage point on top of one of the gates to the former Forbidden City. Chinese President Hu Jintao is fifth from the left.
China's leader Hu Jintao wore a black Mao suit in tribute to the founder of the People's Republic of China.
Return of the cult of personality: Participants in the parade carry a massive portait of Hu Jintao.
In the city of Chengdu, thousands of people took to the streets to celebrate the anniversary.
Many observers felt themselves reminded of similar parades in North Korea or Soviet Russia.
Air force jets were also part of the show of strength.
Some 80,000 children used pompoms to form Chinese characters.
A nation marching in lockstep: The festivities were intended to send a message to the world and to the ordinary citizens of China.
