China Marks 60th Birthday with Pomp and Fare

Motorists passing the Shangri-La Hotel in Jakarta faced a dilemma on Thursday evening.
Streams of vehicles entering the hotel were moving at snail's pace. There were also long queues to
get into the hotel ballroom.

It was a celebration of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China
- one of the most spectacular colorful and joyous celebrations held so far in Jakarta this year. Colors
and images of China greeted the large number of guests. There were also two former presidents -
Megawati Soekarnoputri and B.J. Habibie - as well as Women's Empowerment Minister Meutia
Farida Hatta Swasono, Foreign Ministry's Secretary-General Imron Cotan, lawmakers, politicians,
intellectuals, artists, top businesspeople, scholars, diplomats, military generals and prominent public
figures of both Chinese and Indonesian Chinese communities. There were even 60 special little
guests from the Harapan Bangsa Primary School who were there to sing the national anthems of
Indonesia and China.

As a close friend of Indonesia, Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia Zhang Qiyue extended

condolences to the families of victims of Wednesday's deadly earthquake in West Sumatra, while
saying that the Chinese government and Red Cross would provide US$500,000 in emergency aid to
the people of Padang.

Thursday was a proud moment for every Chinese person on the planet, including the big
Chinese community in Indonesia. In his speech, Zhang said that since the founding of the People's
Republic of China, the Chinese people, with painstaking efforts and wisdom, have transformed the
once impoverished and backward old China into a modern country of prosperity and strength.

The huge ballroom was not large enough to accommodate the 2,000 guests.

The entire perimeter of the spacious Shangri-La Ballroom was laid out with authentic
Chinese food; including signature dishes sharks fin soup, dimsum, Peking duck and mooncakes.
Dishes from Sichuan, Hainan, Shanghai and Hong Kong also featured in the lavish buffet. However,
it was not easy to get a taste of these delicacies because everywhere there were long queues.

Various parts of China were also represented in the entertainment for the evening, which
featured traditional dancers and singers from China.

(Source: The Jakarta Post, Friday, 10/02/2009).