Review China

The celebration for the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China will feature a staggering and massive performance, with a phalanx numbering in the tens of thousands marching in uniform through the square, displaying at its utmost the unity and strength of this nation, absolute symmetry. However, within that uniformity of tens of thousands marching together in perfect stride, what we won't see or hear are the individual faces among them. During the procession, those in formation will be under inspection by the nation, and not even a single hair will be allowed out of place. In this country of over a billion people, each of its citizens has their own reasons to feel joy and sorrow, a sense of glory or repine. Yet come this October 1st in China, will the stories and personal experiences of all these different people, also be a cause for celebration? The fourth event in the Conscience of China and Internet Opinion series will be held on this October 1st, with this day chosen specifically to highlight the stories of individuals and the experiences of citizens against the backdrop of this collective scripted narrative. The theme of the event will consist of four parts: Seeing, Speaking, Thinking and Listening, and in addition to talks delivered by our guest speakers, we will also present a collection of video shorts produced by netizens over the past few weeks; through this, we will cast off an imposed greater narrative, and look closely at China through our own eyes and individual perspectives. Further, we'll be working harder to improve interactive remote participation of the event and go beyond the merely past open events with Twitter participation, to offer Skype call-in, allowing anyone anywhere to join the live discussion either through video or text, including posing questions to the guest speakers. There's an 'I' in China for a reason: in this day and age, no one need get left behind.