2 minutes and 7 seconds, what can be done?
The flag guards walked to the base of the flagpole in unison, and the flag-raiser waved his arms, and the flag was raised from the bottom to the top of the 30-meter-high flagpole in 2 minutes and 7 seconds.
The sun rises tangent to the horizon for 2 minutes and 7 seconds.
In the early morning, with the first rays of sunshine, the five-star red flag on Tiananmen Square was raised, starting a new day.
On October 1, 1949, at the founding ceremony of the People's Republic of China, Chairman Mao Zedong pressed the button at the Tiananmen Gate Tower and raised the first five-star red flag of New China. Since then, the ceremony of raising and lowering the national flag has undergone many major changes, from one person to the current 96-person national flag guard, and the flag-raising ceremony is more solemn and grand.
The five-star red flag has always fluttered in the wind in the center of Tiananmen Square, witnessing the turbulent glorious years of New China over the past 75 years, and witnessing the great course of New China from standing up to becoming rich and then becoming strong.
Today, watching the flag-raising is still a ritual that belongs exclusively to the Chinese. Every dawn, tens of thousands of people from all over the country wait here in advance, waiting for the national flag to be raised, and in a solemn ceremony, expressing a full sense of national pride.
On October 1, 2023, 302,000 citizens and tourists gathered in Tiananmen Square to witness the solemn moment of the rising of the five-star red flag and celebrate the 74th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Photo by Beijing Daily reporter Pan Zhiwang
"One person raising the flag"
Nowadays, few people may know that the first to undertake the task of raising the flag was the electrician.
Since the flag-raising system under the national flagpole is electric, the Beijing Power Supply Bureau, which designed its power system, began to take charge of the daily task of raising and lowering the national flag on the second day of the founding ceremony.
For nearly 26 years, Hu Qijun, an electrician, became the only flag-raiser in Tiananmen Square. There was no accompaniment to the national anthem, no crowd onlookers, and he completed the flag-raising work alone.
In 1976, when the "one-man flag-raising" ended, he was replaced by the guards of the Beijing Garrison, and the number of flag bearers was changed from one to two.
It was also in that year that the five-star red flag began to flutter in the wind in the middle of Tiananmen Square every day. Two soldiers of the garrison, one carrying the flag and the other protecting the flag, walked side by side. When crossing the zebra crossing in front of Tiananmen Square, you also have to give way to cars and bicycles.
When the sun is about to set, press the button to lower the national flag, carry it back, and put it under the eaves of the station.
At that time, there was still no grand ceremony for raising the flag, the national anthem was not played, and the time for raising and lowering the national flag was not fixed, and there were still 6 years before the formation of the "national flag class" that is now widely known.
Flag class
On December 28, 1982, the fifth squad of the 11th Squadron of the 6th Detachment of the former Beijing Armed Police Corps was stationed in Tiananmen Square to undertake the task of raising and lowering the national flag in Tiananmen Square and guarding it.
At that time, Dong Li, the first squad leader of the Tiananmen National Flag Squad, proposed that there should be a sacred and solemn flag-raising ceremony to express the love of hundreds of millions of people for the national flag.
Soon, with the approval of the superiors, the number of flag bearers was raised from the original two to three, and a timetable for raising and lowering the national flag was compiled according to the Beijing Observatory.
The new flag-raising ceremony began on February 1, 1983. A flag bearer in the middle carries a flag, and there are flag guards on each side, and all three are armed belts around their waists. The sense of solemnity and sacredness began to attract ordinary people.
In 1983, the soldiers of the "National Flag Squad" shuttled through Tiananmen Square, causing citizens to watch, and people gradually began to stop to watch the "flag-raising ceremony". Source: Beijing Daily
Since New Year's Day in 1986, CCTV has broadcast the footage of the national flag raising in Tiananmen Square as the opening of the news broadcast to the whole country for a year. Perhaps from this time on, going to Tiananmen Square to witness the flag-raising ceremony has become the wish of countless Chinese people.
With the promulgation of the National Flag Law of the People's Republic of China in 1990, the reform of the national flag raising and lowering ceremony was also put on the agenda.
Eight years later, with the approval of the State Council, the three-member team grew to 36 people. At the same time, the national flag pedestal and the flag-raising ceremony have also changed.
After removing the fence around the flagpole, the fighters no longer had to climb over the fence. The pedestal is rebuilt into a three-story plan, with a white marble platform with a side length of 6 meters and a height of 45 centimeters, and a 30-meter-high silver-gray flagpole in the center.
On May 1, 1991, the flag bearer carried the five-star red flag on his shoulders and walked towards Tiananmen Square under the escort of the flag guards. Photo by Beijing Daily reporter Zhang Feng
In the early morning of May 1, 1991, an olive-green party composed of 36 officers and soldiers of the national flag guard in military uniforms and 60 officers and soldiers of the armed police band, in the sound of military music of "Singing the Motherland", set off from the middle door hole of the Tiananmen Gate Tower, crossed the Jinshui Bridge and Chang'an Avenue, and walked into the base of the national flag pole.
138 steps is the number of steps taken by the soldiers from the Jinshui Bridge to the national flag pole, and each step is 75 centimeters.
Four minutes later, the flag bearer handed over a 3.3-metre-wide and 5-metre-long oversized flag to the flag-raiser. The military band played the national anthem, the flag-raiser pressed the button, and the bright five-star red flag slowly rose in the majestic national anthem. Two minutes and 7 seconds later, the flag fluttered at the top of the flagpole, shining brightly under the rising red sun.
On May 1, 1991, the solemn five-star red flag fluttered in the morning light. Photo by Beijing Daily reporter Li Shixi
This is the most solemn and solemn flag-raising ceremony after Chairman Mao personally raised the first national flag of the republic in 1949. On that day, tens of thousands of people gathered in Tiananmen Square to witness this historic moment.
In the following 27 years, wind, frost, rain and snow, severe cold and heat have not stopped the footsteps of this team. On the 1st, 11th and 21st of each month, members of the military band play the national anthem at the flag-raising site, and a recording of the national anthem is played on weekdays.
Precise steps and moments are the guarantee of the solemnity of the ceremony, and when it falls on the head of each warrior, it is the muscle memory that requires countless training to form.
A veteran of the convoy once said that it takes at least a few layers of skin to go from an ordinary soldier to a qualified flag raiser.
Practicing standing against the wind, practicing not blinking in the face of the sun, and even catching ants and putting them on their faces to practice facial expressions without deformation. Sleeping at night without pillows, requiring limbs to be flat, sleeping on your back, and not being able to lie on your side and stomach, all of which together constitute the daily training of recruits.
More than 6,200 flag-raising tasks with zero mistakes, this is the "record" of Gao Hongfu, the "first flag-raiser of the Republic", when he retired from the army in 2015.
In July 2004, Gao Hongfu took over the "baton" of the flag-raiser. How to quickly throw a 17-square-meter national flag into the air at the moment when the national anthem is played? And how do you quickly fold the flag into a cone the moment it is lowered to the bottom of the pole? Gao Hongfu has his own secrets.
In order to practice the flag, he took 3 kg of dumbbells to practice arm strength, and he practiced all day. In order to practice collecting the flag, he cut the national flag on the flagpole one by one on the outside of his palm, and made a "click" sound when it collided with the flagpole. Muscle memory is always accompanied by physical pain, white gloves rotten one after another, and patches of blood blisters scab off.
"The unity of the human flag" is what he said the most in an interview, and a complete set of flag-raising actions should be completed within 30 seconds, in one go. "If you can't blend together, the flag won't listen to you."
A sense of ritual
In the early morning of January 1, 2018, nearly 100,000 people waited in Tiananmen Square, and what was about to appear before their eyes was the first flag-raising ceremony held after the honor guard of the three services of the Chinese People's Liberation Army took on the task of raising and lowering the national flag.
At 7:32, the flag-raising horn pierced the sky, and the flag-raising ceremony officially began.
The 36-man team grew to 96. A flag guard formation composed of 96 members of the People's Liberation Army honor guard walked from the middle gate of the city tower to the Jinshui Bridge, and 30 salute soldiers stood solemnly on both sides to greet the national flag.
At 7:36 on January 1, 2018, Tiananmen Square ushered in the first flag-raising ceremony of the new year. Photo by Beijing Daily reporter He Guanxin
Still 4 minutes later, accompanied by the "March of the Volunteers" played by the PLA Military Band, the bright five-star red flag unfurled in the wind and rose together with the thin morning sun.
After the upgrade, the flag-raising ceremony, in addition to the first day of the month for 96 flag guards, has also increased to 66 on weekdays, the flag team movements, flag-raising time, military band appearance and performance position and other details have also been adjusted synchronously, but also on the first day of each month to add a trumpeter and salute to the flag link.
The majestic momentum and solemn and majestic atmosphere all demonstrate the self-confidence and heroism of the Chinese people in striding on a new journey.
Nowadays, more and more young people regard watching the flag raising as a must-see "check-in" project. How to make an appointment, how to occupy the front row, and how to quickly pass through the security check have become the focus of everyone's attention. As a result, different versions of the strategy condensed from personal experience spread on various social platforms.
Just after 3 a.m., the first people to pass through the security channel began to "sprint 100 meters" in Tiananmen Square, because the speed of running determines where they can finally stand to watch the flag-raising.
Once you've found your spot, the last thing you have to do is wait. Looking at the sky above Tiananmen Square, it gradually faded from jet black, revealed Klein blue, then faded into sky blue, and finally revealed a touch of pink before sunrise, and the honor guard of the three armed forces came out!
Stepping across Chang'an Avenue, they walked towards the flag-raising platform in unison. Young parents in the back row always carry their children on their shoulders and let them watch the flag go up in a wider view.
Almost everyone who witnessed the flag-raising ceremony remembered singing the national anthem. As long as the accompaniment sounds, everyone will involuntarily sing, after all, these 46 seconds are the melody engraved in the blood.
"Get up! People who don't want to be slaves! Build our flesh and blood into our new Great Wall......"