In the eyes of an increasingly uneasy internet-savvy society, China's Communist Party is anxious to bolster its legitimacy as it celebrates its 90th anniversary on Friday.
In the wake of an Arab Spring, Chinese leadership is extra careful to hammer home a message that only the party could have engineered as China emerges as the world's second-largest economy. The campaign leading up to Friday's celebration has included a revamped, airbrushed version of the party's rise and China's modern history.
It seems to be working. Despite several protests, many Chinese are literally singing the party's praises and membership rolls have reached a new high.
Propaganda czars have ensured that China's checkered history under the Communist Party appears picture perfect, overseeing the production of a star-studded feature film on the party's founding. But that's not all. They have instituted a thick new history book on the first three decades in power, countless exhibitions, television shows, editorials, and massive revolutionary singing pageants.
Here's a look at some of the pageantry surrounding the Communist Party of China's 90th anniversary:
A dancer performs at The White-Haired Girl ballet in the Shanghai City Theatre June 28, 2011. The White-Haired Girl ballet was performed for the first time in 1945, along with Red Detachment of Women. Together they are considered by many as the classics of revolutionary China's ballet performances. China will celebrate its upcoming 90th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on July 1, 2011.REUTERSStudents wave the flags of Communist Party of China (CPC) during the opening ceremony of a revolutionary song singing concert at Chongqing Olympic Sports Centre in Chongqing municipality June 29, 2011. More than 70,000 people attended the ceremony to celebrate the upcoming 90th anniversary of the founding of the CPC on July 1.REUTERSParticipants holding Chinese national and party flags run during the opening ceremony of a revolutionary song singing concert at Chongqing Olympic Sports Centre in Chongqing municipality, June 29, 2011. More than 70,000 people attended the ceremony to celebrate the upcoming 90th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on July 1.REUTERSStudents use yellow cardboards to form a logo of Communist Party of China during the opening ceremony of a revolutionary song singing concert at Chongqing Olympic Sports Centre in Chongqing municipality, June 29, 2011. More than 70,000 people attended the ceremony to celebrate the upcoming 90th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on July 1.REUTERSActresses of Tujia minority dance as they sing Chinese revolutionary songs in front of a giant flag of the Communist Party of China during a performance to celebrate the upcoming 90th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China in Tongren, Guizhou province, June 23, 2011. China will celebrate the upcoming 90th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on July 1, 2011. Picture taken June 23, 2011.REUTERSVisitors attend an exhibit at the Museum of the First National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in Shanghai June 24, 2011. As China prepares for the 90th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party, the museum, located in Xintiandi, one of the commercial areas of Shanghai, opens its doors for exhibitions about the history of China, the city of Shanghai and the events surrounding the foundation of the party in July 1, 1921.REUTERSParticipants, dressed in Red Army uniforms, sing during a revolutionary song singing competition to celebrate the upcoming 90th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC), in Chongqing municipality June 30, 2011. China will celebrate the anniversary on July 1, 2011.REUTERS
