Watch as President Hu Jintao passes rows and rows of Chinese troops of equal height. The pan-in across Tiananmen Square at the start is particularly spectacular:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32fGCvEIll8[/youtube]

What you’re not seeing is protest. And with good reason. Chinese authorities moved petitioners back to their home towns ahead of the celebrations:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6xQQDB55F4[/youtube]

Still, who couldn’t warm to the unbeatable thrill of soldier formations:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpaDGQi6et8[/youtube]

Or rainbow-spewing aircrafts also in formation (All the pilots are female. Women hold up half the sky didn’t you know):

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4I0FlC7H-k[/youtube]

Here’s what the celebrations looked like for the 50th anniversary (spot the difference):

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4puxr6hhfB8[/youtube]

Footage of the rehearsals shows tanks rolling through the streets, always a disconcerting sight near Tiananmen Square:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ig2UTXgZ0vw[/youtube]

Meet Mao — the man who was there 60 years ago to witness the original revolution — and watch the daily re-enactment for the tourists of Communist forces battling the Kuomintang:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Szb9m6Umtgw[/youtube]

The trailer for Mao’s Last Dancer:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ufBNOkTvdQ[/youtube]