The Guards of Honor of the People's Liberation Army perform the national flag-raising duty at the Tian'anmen Square in Beijing, Jan 1, 2018. The responsibility for guarding China's national flag and firing salute cannons at the Tian'anmen Square was transferred to the People's Liberation Army from Jan 1, 2018, as authorized by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Before Jan 1, the ceremony was conducted by the armed police. [Photo/Xinhua] Dozens of members from the People's Liberation Army Guards of Honor raised the national flag at Tian'anmen Square in central Beijing on Monday morning. This move has meant that the PLA has replaced the Armed Police Force to guard the national flag and fire salute cannons, as ordered by the Communist Party of China Central Committee on Saturday. Previously, national flags were raised, lowered and guarded by Armed Police officers at key sites such as government complexes, public squares and memorials. The Armed Police was also responsible for firing cannons at important occasions such as welcome ceremonies for State guests. Around 7:31 am, a group of 96 honor guards, headed by a flag holder and two escort guards, marched out from the central gate of the Tian'anmen Rostrum and walked past two columns of their peers standing across the Chang'an Avenue. They then reached the restricted zone around the flag post and stood in formation. At 7:36 am, an honor guard raised the national flag, which was accompanied by the national anthem played by a PLA band. custom rubber bandscustom rubber wristbandsadjustable wristbandsplastic wristbands ukwristband keychain24 hour wristbands couponmotivational wristbands for athletes
Passengers are seen onboard the new bullet train in Beijing, June 26, 2017. [Photo by Zou Hong/chinadaily.com.cn] China's new bullet train models, Fuxing, or rejuvenation, were officially launched on the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway line and had its first ride on Monday. CR400AF departed from Beijing South Railway Station at 11:05 am and headed to Shanghai. While the other, CR400BF, left Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station for Beijing at the same time. The new models traveled at a speed of about 350 kilometers per hour and the top speed could reach 400 km/h. It took the first model about 5 hours and 45 minutes to reach Shanghai. On its way, it stopped by 10 stations, including Jinan, Shandong province and Tianjin. According to Liang Zhaoyu, spokesperson of the China Railway Corp, the State-owned rail operator which led the design of the new models, all the tickets for CR400AF from Beijing to Shanghai were sold out on Monday. From June 26 to June 30, there will be two pairs of high-speed trains running between Beijing and Shanghai using the new Chinese-standard bullet train, Liang said. Starting from July1, the Chinese-standard type will be applied to four pairs of high-speed trains operated between the two stations, he added.
