BEIJING, Oct. 1 (UPI) -- More than 5,000 people gathered in Beijing's Tiananmen Square Wednesday to mark the 59th anniversary of the founding of modern China.
The country's top leaders laid baskets of flowers at the Monument to the People's Heroes, honoring those who sacrificed for the nation's independence, China's Xinhua news agency reported.
Led by Chinese President Hu Jintao, the leaders walked around the monument viewing inscriptions on its side that depict modern China's struggle.
Tiananmen Square was decorated for the occasion with national flags, Beijing Olympic mascots and models of the Shenzhou-7 spacecraft.
Liu Zhigang, a 36-year-old doctor who took his family to Beijing for the ceremonies, expressed pride at China's hosting of the Olympic Games and its just-ended space mission.
"All of these made this year's National Day particularly meaningful," he told Xinhua.
