China celebrates 60 years

China celebrated 60 years of Communist rule today with a spectacular display of patriotic zeal and military might designed to showcase its enormous wealth and meteoric rise in power, with a massive parade of tanks, soldiers and missile launchers in Beijing.

Millions of dollars, months of rehearsals and masses of manpower went into today's festivities. Almost 5,000 soldiers goose-stepped through Tiananmen Square, organized according to their height, their chins held high at matching angles. They marched at exactly 116 paces a minute and were trained to blink only once every 40 seconds.

They were followed by more than 100,000 marching masses and 60 gaudily decorated floats designed to showcase China's achievements. No detail was overlooked. Even the weather, foggy over the last few days, was bright and sunny after the People's Liberation Army (PLA) conducted its largest ever cloud seeding effort to ensure clear skies.

Highlights of the Parade

The highlight of the parade was undoubtedly the dazzling display of military hardware. Rows of tanks rumbled through the square, followed by more than 50 new types of weapons -- all made in China -- including intercontinental ballistic missiles with nuclear capabilities. The demonstration was punctuated by 151 planes blazing through the sky, some trailing brightly colored smoke.

Minxin Pei, an adjunct senior associate with the Carnegie Endowment, told ABC News, "At the most symbolic level, it's a display of reaching strength. What can be more persuasive than a display of inter-continental ballistic missiles and goose-stepping soldiers? It says, 'We are strong and we want to remain strong.'"

It's a powerful message for the international community but also a rallying cry to inspire loyalty to the Communist party among China's 1.3 billion people.

It has been 60 years since Mao Zedong proclaimed the creation of the People's Republic of China with a forceful promise, "Ours will no longer be a nation subject to insult and humiliation. We have stood up."

President Hu Jintao rode in his Chinese-made, open-top limousine shouting "Hello comrades" to lines of troops, and he appeared to echo Mao's message, declaring in his speech, "We have triumphed over all sorts of difficulties and setbacks and risks to gain the greatest achievements evident to the world."

a high-tech stage to display the ruling Communist Party's achievements

Thousands of troops cleared central Beijing of all passers-by for the anniversary parade for the birth of the People's Republic of China on 1 October 1949.

Tiananmen Square was turned into a high-tech stage to display the ruling Communist Party's achievements before invited guests.

Soldiers marked the start of celebrations in the morning by firing cannons and raising the red national flag.

They were watched by President Hu Jintao, standing in a slate grey traditional Mao suit on the Gate of Heavenly Peace over the square.

President Hu inspected rows of troops, riding past them in a black limousine and saying repeatedly, 'Hello comrades, hard-working comrades'.

'From here it was that Chairman Mao solemnly announced the founding of the People's Republic of China, and from then the Chinese people stood up,' Mr Hu told assembled guests.

'Today a socialist China embracing modernisation, embracing the world and embracing the future stands lofty and firm.'

The parade of 8,000 soldiers, tanks and missiles, 60 elaborate floats, and 100,000 well-drilled civilians was watched by hundreds of millions on television across the country.

Chinese President Hu Jintao reviews PLA troops in Beijing

President Hu Jintao inspected China's defense forces in Beijing on Thursday, as the country held celebrations to mark the 60th founding anniversary of the People's Republic of China.

Chinese President Hu Jintao reviews People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops in Beijing on Thursday.

Hu, wearing a high-collared dark Mao suit and riding in a black open-roof Red Flag limousine, passed by tens of thousands of soldiers and militia and ranks of camouflaged tanks and missiles.

"Greetings, comrades," Hu said as he saluted the troops, according to state-run Xinhua news agency.

"Greetings, leader," the soldiers responded.

Hu's inspection of the troops was the first in a decade, according to Xinhua.

At a rally in Tiananmen Square, Hu urged the Chinese people to unite to build a "rich, strong, democratic, civilized, harmonious and modernized socialist country," Xinhua reported. Video Watch the military on showcase, as Hu rides past ?

About 200,000 soldiers and civilians -- from veterans and athletes to space heroes and young people -- gathered in Tiananmen Square for the National Day military and mass parade showcasing achievements of the last 60 years, Xinhua reported.

The packed square resembled a carnival as colorful crowds marched, cheered and waved. A 60-cannon salute rang out as the nation's flag swept over the square.

The army showed off its latest weapons, which officials touted as made in China. Weapons on display included China's new generation of tanks, unmanned aerial vehicles and satellite communication devices, Xinhua said.

More than 150 fighter jets, bombers, helicopters and other aircraft were to fly over the square, including a fly-past by China's first batch of female fighter pilots, state-run media said.

A 1,300-member military band were also to make an appearance, according to Xinhua.

Rain-dispersal rockets fired into the area in surrounding provinces and regions to induce rain before it reaches the capital in the largest weather-intervention effort since the opening ceremony of the Olympics last year.