Happy 90th Birthday CCP!

Friday was the 90th birthday of the Chinese Communist Party. As you can imagine, in Beijing that's a pretty big deal. Tienanmen Square had flower displays, which we did not go see, and there was something going on on campus, since the party actually got started at Peking University. We went to the (old) Summer Palace where there were performances going on. There was everything from orchestral performances, to choirs, to small children dancing and doing gymnastics, to children training for the Beijing Opera.

The Choir was from one of the local high schools, I think. They were all wearing their school uniform track pants under their dresses. Though I don't know how they could--it was at least ninety degrees outside, and we were all out in the sun.

One of my favorite performers were these girls. They were absolutely adorable, and pretty good for five and six-year-olds. They were "the nations that built China", with the girls in white and blue representing the Han Chinese, and the colorful girls representing the other varied nationalities.

At the end they "built" China with their stools, which you can see on the ground in front of them.

The Beijing Opera kids were also pretty cool. They were telling the story of how the Party was formed, or of the revolution, I think. I'm not actually entirely sure. But there were mini party members! So cute!

And the women, of course...

There was some rather interesting acting, of course. This seems to be from an army scene.

There were also some pretty cool other characters, though I have absolutely no idea who they were or if they were representing something.

 

All in all, a pretty good party.