Sep 27, 2009
The Big Anniversary
A couple of interesting links from around the interwebs on the big 60th anniversary party marking the founding of the PRC coming up on October 1st:
What did Mao Zedong really say?
A Hunan man remembers that day 60 years ago, and claims that Mao never said that famous line ‘Today the Chinese people have stood up.’ Instead, according to the man, what he actually said was ‘ The central government of the People’s Republic of China was founded today.’
Not quite as catchy…
But given the amount of media manipulation that was to follow in the next 60 years, maybe this deception was appropriate.
Ordinary Chinese warned to stay away from huge anniversary parade
Looks like they’re going to be firing chemicals into the clouds again to make sure there’s no rain. The most discouraging point raised in this article is that regular folk are being told not to come out to watch the parade. The authorities don’t want anyone watching from their balconies either. You’re supposed to watch the parade go by from inside your closed windows. Bummer.
I remember seeing stuff like this leading up to the Olympics too. So many of China’s problems can be traced back to this tendency to hide shit under the rug while you put on a happy public face.
