Beijing all dressed up for National Day

The parade will rival last year’s impressive opening ceremony of the Olympic games and the tone for it would be set by a speech by President Hu Jintao,also the chief of the ruling Communist Party and the military.

The capital will see an array of celebrations,including a parade at the historic Tiananmen Square and an evening peoples party,marking the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

The state-controlled mobile service company has changed its customers’ cellphone ring-back tones to a patriotic song.

“It’s a gift,” said a customer service representative at China Mobile when asked about the switch it made on Monday.

Meanwhile,critics of China’s Communist government are protesting plans to light the top of New York’s Empire State Building red and yellow to honour that nation’s 60th anniversary. Several supporters of Tibet protested on Wednesday outside the iconic building,where a lighting ceremony was planned.