China almost shaved

I finally finished the paper for Globalization. Feeling relieved a bit, two exams and tons of readings and homework is waiting for me. Oh, gosh.

The magnificant parade on Oct 1 in Tiananmen Square impressed a lot of people (I'm not one of them). Though Hu's the speech was as boring as always. Yawn! It seemed the government spent more effort on enforcing the 125 km pigeon ban than on his speech, which was supposed to exhibit China's determination to lead the world.

The new uniforms made the goose steps as attractive as ever. High tech weapons displayed China's military prowess. But the longest part of the parade was the allegedly civilian groups. The exhibition cars showing the development in all the provinces and the huge achievements under four generations of communist leadership. Everything seemed as normal as the Mao suit Hu wore on that day when he was inspecting the troops.

But news came out that the car group for Mao era wasn't in the plan until the politburo decided to put it in on September 22, only 8 days before ceremony. It showed a failed attempt of "shaving" (because Mao in Chinese means body hair, shaving means eliminating Mao from the history), indicating the conservative force in the party is still influential.

However, this was still unexpected. Probably now it's time to bet on whether picture of Mao will be shown in the parade in ten years' time. If not, the future of China could be less dim.